Nursing Epidemic Rates: The Nursing Action Plan For Obesity

Obesity continues to be a problem in the United States. With obesity rates on the rise something must be done to prevent this massive issue. Seventeen percent of children and adolescents about 12.5 million are obese (Diet). Obesity is the result of a rise in fat that accumulated over time due to the lack of exercise and having a calorie surplus due to unhealthy food. An adult with a BMI (body mass index) higher than 30% is considered to be obese (Obesity). There isn’t a direct focus on obesity, because people don’t think it’s an important issue. To ensure a better future, solution is needed now. The solution to ending the obesity epidemic by encouraging a healthier lifestyle on children at young ages, improving nutrition at schools and restaurants, as well as providing more time and space for citizens to get physically active.

The objectives for the Healthy People 2020 program include desired progress in nutrition and weight issues, and there are few communities in the country that do not need to pay a significant amount of attention to these problems (Healthy People, 2012). New Jersey is actually faring better than many states across many indicators, including overall obesity, however overweight and obesity as well as the behaviors that place people at risk for developing obesity are still major problems for adults and for children in communities across the state (CDC, 2012; Manalapan Board of Health; New Jersey Department of Education, 2010). Addressing childhood obesity in a manner that corrects problems from the outset and that teaches preventative methods in a proactive attempt to reduce both childhood and adult obesity levels is a key concern of Manalapan Township, specifically, and this issue is examined further in the following pages.

Obesity is becoming a serious medical issue and if we as a nation don’t gain control over it, we are going to be dealing with major problems in the future. (Obesity In Children And Teens)

Obesity has been measured or defined in various ways. Many researchers have differing opinions on the origins and effects of obesity. The rapidly increasing rates of obesity are often linked to a high calorie diet and little to no physical activity. Although obesity is seen as a disease that affects a person’s weight, it actually affects a lot more than that. Obesity can affect individuals in both adolescence and adulthood, their families, and the healthcare system. From an outside viewpoint, obesity looks like a disease that careless, inactive people develop. Not always is this the case. Obesity is not a disease that affects solely the weight of a person. To be considered obese, your BMI (body mass index) would have to be 30 or higher. Almost 70 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese. Not only does obesity affect the weight of a person, it can also lead to increased risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep apnea, and many other things. Questions posed on this dreadful disease by many people are on the origin of the disease, the effects and exponential growth of the disease, and the actions that are being taken to help provide a healthier environment for Americans and to establish programs and preventative methods across the country to help fight the ever increasing obesity rate.

One can imagine how obesity is taking over the world 's population, so rapidly and it is obvious that the United States of America has high rates of Obesity. Obesity, also known as overweight, is a serious epidemic disease that can cause harm to the systems of the body including the heart. Obesity is the biggest threat to the United State of America 's population and something urgent has to be done, otherwise our future generation is at stake. the parent of U.S kids should be aware that obesity is affecting health, has national consequences, and lead to depression in the victims. If something is not done fast to alter this misfortune, there is a high percentage that our future generation is at stake.

Obesity is an epidemic and affects millions of people in the United States every day. This health problem affects everybody, not only adults but in people of all ages even children. It is also a disease, a disease from improper nutrition that requires long term medical treatment otherwise causing many health risks leading to death. “This isn't rocket science. People want to eat healthy diets, but they tend to eat whatever's convenient and affordable.

The Obesity epidemic in America has continued due to ignorance. People are aware that eating and excessive amount of food causes obesity and obesity leads to serious health risks. According to,the Obesity Society,“Obesity puts individuals at risk for more than 30 chronic health conditions. They include: type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, gallstones, heart disease, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea GERD...and numerous cancers.”(“What is Obesity”).People have unlimited access to this information, however,millions of Americans are obese. However, if one chooses to acknowledge the issue future issues can be prevented. First lady, Michelle Obama enforced obesity prevention programs in school,such as “Myplate” .(“Team Nutrition”).By enforcing this program she is helping to prevent childhood obesity.

America, like any other country, has its assortment of problems: immigration, debt, or foreign affairs but one issue that is rather hard to overlook, literally, its obesity epidemic. The extra pounds have become a sight all too common in America’s society, “men are now on average seventeen pounds heavier than they were in the late seventies, and for women that figure is even higher: nineteen pounds.” (Kolbert). Obesity does not just affect adults in this way either, the kid population has been getting bigger, according to the numbers on a scale “the proportion of overweight children, age six to eleven, has more than doubled, while the proportion of overweight adolescents, age twelve to nineteen, has more than tripled.” (Kolbert). This issue has been a major concern to doctors and scientists for decades and in recent years, has even has the American Medical Association recognizing obesity to be a disease (Pollack). That is a highly debatable statement because obesity itself is a preventable lifestyle. Obesity is avoidable and curable to all (or at least most) of its sufferers. For some citizens, obesity is not a choice, rather genetics, but for the majority of the population, obesity is caused by an unhealthy diet and lazy lifestyle, and for these certain individuals, through a lot of work and discipline, the return to a healthy lifestyle is not as impossible as it may appear.

Reducing the problem of obesity; there must be an organized educational, political and legislation movement that is supported at the community level. Information from evidence-based practices used by nurses, health care providers, and other collaborators like dieticians, physical therapists, and social workers help the client to achieve a more favorable outcome. These interventions focus on diet, exercise, and behavior modification should be encouraged by nurses. Giving the client the power to identify the factors that contribute to excess food intake, can help the client to eliminate or reduce causes. Establishing realistic weight loss goals and exercise / activity objectives like losing bodyweight 1-2 lb./week increase the likelihood of success, assessing the client’s knowledge and discuss well-balanced diet plans plays major role teaching about diet plans. Discussing behavior modification strategies, such as self-monitoring and environmental management can provide client is the reinforcement that is needed. (Pearson, 2015) Continuing assessment is necessary not only to evaluate the safety or weight loss strategies but also reinforce positive benefits of weight loss. Including families and other stakeholders, such as schools, parks, private partners and politicians at all levels, we can make the obesity issue a focus for change. (John, F., & Kirsten, P., 2014). For programs like this to be successful, outcomes should not

The United States as a nation is struggling tremendously with high an outrageous obesity rate. According to the documentary “Weight of the Nation,” obesity is number five out of the ten leading causes of death. The lifestyle in the United States has become a “norm” that has to be changed quickly. It is imperative that we as adults draw into our youth the importance of eating healthy. We as people are in control of our own health and can prevent ourselves from getting chronic diseases such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Over the past several years obesity hasn’t just increased drastically, it has doubled. Due to the drastic increase and the rate of obesity health factors have also went up significantly. Obesity contributes to many major health complications such as congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. In this paper we are going to explore the causes and effects of obesity, and what we as nurses can do to help.

Obesity in adults can lead to an increased chance of obesity in children (Yipu, de Groh, M & Morrison, H, 2013). It is important that nurses focus on educating and preventing childhood obesity, and not just treatment or medication solutions. Providing benefits and support to families through public policies forms a base for healthy childhood development. Nurses can prevent obesity by providing high quality early child education regardless of parents’ wealth. Nurses should focus on a primary heath care setting in order to look at the situation as a whole and emphasize health promotion and prevention care in a community/population. It is also important for parents to understand the health risks their children face by them being obese, such as hypertension, risk of stroke, etc. Nurses should advocate for laws that protect the rights of minority groups, particularly concerning employment rights and health care accessibly. Nurse should be aware on the social determinants of health so they can educate and provide the tools to be successful. By understanding how the social determinants of health can affect their patient, nurses can strengthen their communication and also advocate for their patients by finding strategies to assist them. Public health nursing is essential to provide awareness and education to promote the health of the community. Nurses need to

As defined by the World Health Organization, obesity is “an abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. a BMI greater than or equal to 25 is overweight and a BMI greater than or equal to 30 is obesity”. Being obese or overweight is especially common in the US and is increasing nationally and globally. As per The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (OJIN), recent studies show over 67% with BMI greater than 25 and Americans between the ages 26 - 75 are 10% to 40% morbidly obese with BMI greater than 30. Excess weight greater than the ideal body weight is a danger to one’s health. Obesity is one of the major risk factors for many diseases such as, Metabolic syndrome, osteoarthritis, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory compromise, intra-abdominal pressures, skin conditions and mental illness and last but not least, some cancers. As a nurse, anticipating obesity-related issues will only increase and nursing care plans will have to adjust as this epidemic continues. This epidemic can and will affect the goal of Interdisciplinary Team Health Care members in providing Holistic Care in an individual who is obese.

It is not arguable to state that childhood obesity is an epidemic that our country is facing. The health of our future generation can only be secured if changes are made in multiple areas of society. Because a lifestyle change is needed to fight obesity, it is important to create a structure that promotes health at home, school, and in the community. A nurse’s role is to ensure that the approach to obesity involves the entire family and holistically includes the emotional aspects of health.

Obesity has caused great dilemma in America. It was known as an adult disease. “Over two thirds of adults are over weight or obese.”(Obesity, Jerry R Ballenttne) these numbers are increasing rapidly. Obesity is not just a appearance