Obesity in America: What’s Driving the Epidemic?
Propose a health promotion program using an evidence based intervention found in
your literature search to address the problem in the selected population/setting. Include a
thorough discussion of the specifics of this intervention which include resources necessary,
those involved, and feasibility for a nurse in an advanced role. Be certain to include a
timeline
� Thoroughly describe the intended outcomes
Describe the outcomes in detail concurrent with the SMART goal approach
� Provide a detailed plan for evaluation
for each outcome
� Thoroughtly describe possible barriers/challenges to implementing the proposed
project as well as strategies to address these barriers/challenges.
� Provide a review of literature from scholarly journals of evidence
-based interventions that address the problem
� .After completing a library search related to effective interventions for your chosen
health promotion activity, write a review that evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of all
the sources you have found.
Health Promotion Proposal (Obesity in America)
Introduction
Obesity is a very common nutritional disease in America and a number of other affluent
countries. America seems to be leading in this nutritional disease and a number of individuals are
affected. In the recent past, there has been an increase in the prevalence amongst children, adults,
and adolescents in America. Because of deleterious effects of obesity on the risk of chronic
diseases, mortality, high social, psychological, and medical cost, multiplicity of causes and
hazards of pharmacological treatments and complexities with regards to the guidelines of
treatment, prevention approach on excess weight should be given attention (Dalton, 1997). This
should start very early in life with the change in the behavior of individuals. This will help to sort
the problem associated with the burden of treating the disease in adulthood. It is very vital to
consider having an active lifestyle and eliminate any kind of circumstance that would make you
not eat healthy foods. Worth addressing in the process of coming up with a solution for obesity is
the consumption of calories above the body requirement (Dalton, 1997). There should be a
HEALTH PROMOTION PROPOSAL 2
balance between the amount of calories consumed and the activities that an individual engages
in.
The intervention
The review of literature supports the fact the increased prevalence in obesity in America
is attributed greatly to lifestyle of the American population. The context of the American
environment seems to be very antagonistic to healthy lifestyle. The best approach therefore
would be the one that would aim at influencing the lifestyle of the American population. This
can be done by the serious engagement of the populace on healthy lifestyle habits through
policies and media campaigns at virtually all levels. Through policies and programs of the
government, it would be possible to mitigate poor diet and sedentary lifestyle which are the great
factors that contribute to obesity in America. Government policies would be able cover a wide
area since they would be applicable in schools, communities, workplaces and medical centers.
The health policies should cover areas such education on healthful lifestyles, advertising
and food labeling, food assistance programs, health and aspects of transportation (DHHS, 2000).
For instance, with regards to education, the federal government should be able to provide
financial assistance that would be used by the department of public health in the promotion
campaigns with an emphasis on healthful eating and the patterns of physical activities. The
health education should also focus on the nutritional instructions and the management of weight.
This should actually be part and parcel of the curriculum in schools for teaches who are involved
in health education. The school television programs should have commercials for foods with
high calories, sugar or fat as these influences the children in a great way towards these kinds of
food staffs.
HEALTH PROMOTION PROPOSAL 3
In education campaign, the plant based diet should be the focus of the dietary guidance.
It is also vital to encourage and make sure that physical education and sports programs in schools
are taken very seriously (Koplan & Dietz, 1999). For the campaign to be more effective there
should also be healthy eating in military installations, government cafeterias, and generally
among the state and federal employees. This is very vital for the success of this health promotion
since obesity is a national issue in America. Thus government must be seen to be taking the lead
in solving the problem of obesity. Nurses and even other medical professionals should be trained
on the principles of healthful diet and aspects of exercise patterns and the benefits thereof so that
they may be able rightly address the obesity cases that may be presented to them. Nurses should
be engaged in research work to establish the risk of behavior for obesity. This is should also
include the metabolic determinants for the maintenance and gaining of weight. The result from
this research work would work as a basis for evidence based practice.
The intended outcomes
By this approach, it is expected that there will be great improvement of the diet and the
physical activity by the populace since it is based on the change of behavior which is the greatest
contributor of a number of obesity cases in America. Cardiovascular problems associated with
obesity will also greatly decrease. Though this is a long term approach or intervention, its
benefits are very sustainable in comparison to medical interventions such as the surgical
approach. It is also expected that there would be more engagement of nurses in the effort of
controlling the problem obesity since they will be better placed to advice the patience and apply
the evidence based approach because of exposure to research of behavioral aspects that
contribute to obesity. The outcome mentioned above will be evaluated based on the number of
HEALTH PROMOTION PROPOSAL 4
reported cases of obesity nationally and the improvement that individuals who are obese have
gone through.
Limitations and challenges
This approach huge financial burden, this is because it seeks to cover every level and
focuses on a wide area. It may also take a very long time to have the change in the behavior of
individuals. Because of this slow nature, it may be discouraging in stances where there is a need
for a quick solution. Nonetheless, these can be solved by making sure that federal government
allocates enough funds for the behavioral change campaign and also by the development of
policies that would make it easy for the change of behavior with regards to diet.
Reference
Dalton S. (1997). Overweight and weight management. Gaithersburg (MD): Aspen.
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) (US). (2000). Healthy People 2010:
understanding and improving health. Conference edition. Washington: Government
Printing Office.
Koplan J. P., & Dietz, W. H. (1999). Caloric imbalance and public health policy. JAMA
;282:1579-80.