This paper identifies obesity as a major factor that affects the health of the local population, and the initiatives that are currently in place to manage obesity. Indeed, according to the NHS, almost a quarter of the adult population in the UK are obese (Brisbois et al., 2012). In the course of this discussion, this paper explores obesity in terms of: public health beliefs and behaviours, determinants of health, the inequalities across populations from national and local perspectives, national public health policies and finally the role of the registered nurse. Obesity is defined as, the result of an imbalance between caloric intake and energy expenditure; the body receives more than it spends and thus stores the excess as fat. Obesity is categorised as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30kg/m2 or more (NICE, 2007).
Public Health,Wellbeing and Disability
Public health is, in essence, all efforts organised by society to improve their health. From this point of view is a modern science. The success of public health in achieving its goals, throughout nineteenth and twentieth centuries, is unquestioned (Braun and Clarke, 2014).This rests on a system based on the authority; individuals transferred a significant part of their will to a higher power, the state, to guarantee them the highest levels of health and wellness. The success of this authoritarian concept of public health, in the sense of auctorial, has resulted in a dramatic change in the way we live.
Public health beliefs &
Farburn et al (2002) suggests that “the prevalence of obesity and its physiological and psychological complications is increasing among children and adults. These findings emphasize the need for effective prevention and treatment programs. Public health policies and strategies are implemented to meet targets to tackle health issues and socioeconomic problems (Lydia Balsdon, 2009). The House of Commons Health Select Committee (HSC 2004) foreseen the rise in health-care costs related to obesityas the figures are predicted to double by 2050, the estimated cost in 2002 was around £3340-3724 million. Obesity usually relates to limitations in mobility, which results in challenges with daily activities and affecting the quality of life and preventing individuals from finding employability. Health and psychological complications from obesity and related diseases impact the health and social care cost as individuals have high sickness and absence levels from work, which results in low productivity and enforces costs on industries.(McCormick et al, 2007). The government addresses the national strategies in tackling and reducing the obesity figures in the UK. (DH, 2005b). The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (2013) declared that from April 2013, the local government took on a widespread concern for public health within
Obesity is an increasing issue in modern society. It has been deemed an ‘epidemic in the developed world’ and statistics (from Public Health England) show obesity in the United Kingdom has been on the rise for many years, with currently 61.9% of men and women being obese or overweight. In England alone, 1 in 4 adults (age 16 years or over) are currently obese – (25.6%) - placing more than half the adult population overweight or obese (HSE, 2014). This growing problem in developed countries is responsible for thousands of deaths each year due to a number of contributory factors.
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" (1920, C.E.A. Winslow). This therefore infers public health is the preventing and controlling of disease within communities, to prolong life and promote health through organised society. The keys aspects of public health …
This essay aims to discover and analyse adult obesity as a challenging public health issue in England as it has a detrimental effect on the society. The rationale for choosing adult obesity as a public health issue is to comprehend and develop the knowledge of obesity and its impact on individual’s health and wellbeing to better meet the needs of an obese adult in clinical practice. Obesity will be defined, its trends and the biopsychosocial factors that contribute to an individual’s health and wellbeing will be discussed along with the health inequalities. Furthermore, this assignment will highlight relevant policies and legislation aimed at addressing the health risk and needs of an obese adult. Lastly, this essay will explain the role of a nurse in both promoting and assessing of the health requirements of obese adult and then the conclusion will be drawn summarising the key points of the essay.
It is no surprise that obesity is becoming an increasingly prominent health concern. In fact, since 1980 global obesity has almost doubled. (1) “The percentage of children aged 6-11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12-19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period.” (2) “35% of adults aged 20 and over were overweight in 2008, and 11% were obese.” (1) To put these percentages into perspective, in 2008 the world population was at almost 7 billion, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight, roughly 500 million were obese. (1) Obesity can no longer simply be a concern; it is a
Obesity in general is becoming an epidemic in the United States. It is also being considered a disease. Obesity is an excessively high amount of body fat or adipose tissue in relation to lean body mass. The amount of individuals who are affected by this medical disease are increasingly located in the lower class. It is possible that government aid food programs are no help to this issue. Not only are adults being affected, but more children are falling into the category of obese. Obesity in children can be looked at from many possible areas, such as race and ethnicity, the education level of the parents, their gender, and where they are located in a city or town. Many researchers have begun to attempt to discover a solution to this growing epidemic. Obesity is increasing in low income areas in the United States. Government aids and other programs help aid low-income families and help battle obesity.
This assignment will examine the relationship between social determinants of health in obesity, and its significance as a public health issue on a local, regional, national and international scale. The essay will first consider what is obesity, and why it has become such a major problem within England, and locally in the North West. Secondly, the epidemiology and causes will be explored, addressing issues such as diseases linked to obesity, and the affects it has on society and the economy by drawing on statistics and current trends. Next, it will closely examine both the modifiable, and unalterable issues of contemporary social determinants. This will be followed by how these problems are addressed in relation to regional, national and global policies and
This Neighbourhood Study aims to examine the demographics of Hillingdon Primary Care Trust (HPCT) such as age, gender, ethnicity, social groups in relation to the prevention of obesity. An insight into the prevalence of obesity as well as the causes and its effects shall be evaluated. Public health strategies regarding the prevention of obesity and its effects in comparison to Government strategies shall be addressed. The nurse’s role as an educator in relation to this public health issue, strategies formulated by HPCT to prevent obesity and how it focuses on other diseases associated with obesity shall be discussed. The following section gives a definition of obesity, health education and health prevention.
Obesity is being hailed as a global pandemic by academics (Boyd A Swinburn, 2011) and the effects that this has on healthcare systems in the UK is of increasing concern. Not only does obesity cause issues with mobility, it also plays a large part in a multitude of health issues such as diabetes type 2, coronary heart disease, cancer, hypertension, stroke, joint problems and mental health conditions such as depression and low self-esteem. (NHS, 2016) In a report published in 2007 in a journal named Obesity Reviews, it is stated that “The direct cost of overweight and obesity to the NHS is
Obesity has become the silent killer in American society. It is a risk factor for numerous chronic diseases including the four leading causes of death. Obesity can be linked to stroke, heart disease, cancer and diabetes, all serious health problems that can be fatal. Obesity is linked to 300,000 deaths annually in the industrial world (Flamholz, 2001). Often in society and in the medical community there exists a lack of understanding that obesity is in fact a disease and needs attention, otherwise the rates of many diseases will continue to climb.
This essay discusses how social constructions have an effect on obesity and what combination of causes and contributing factors it includes can lead to obesity. `Obesity is the term used to describe someone who is overweight and unhealthy. Obesity shortens life by an average of 10 years. It is very common in the UK and results from a study back in 2014 showed that a whopping 65.3% of men and 58.1% of women are obese here. (UniversityOfBirmingham,2016) Being over weight is generally associated with being lazy and unpleasant. There are a lot of media groups that have influenced our society’s perception on obesity and many factors that lead to the disease. Obesity can be life threatening and can be the start of lethal conditions such as diabetes,
Obesity refers to the condition of having an extra amount of body fat. Obesity is caused by eating too much and moving too little. When an individual’s amount of body fat becomes too high, they are at a greater risk of being affected with life changing diseases such as heart failure, hypertension, type II diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, and others. This shows that people should become more physically active and attempt to make healthier choices because their life depends on the decisions, they make.
Obesity has become an epidemic in our over indulgent North American society. In addition to body image issues, obesity causes significant health issues. Society often views obesity to be a disease when it is actually a sign of a disorder, genetic or environmental. The percentage of our population that is growing overweight is increasing every year, and can become a very serious issue if it is not dealt with urgently. Problems relating to self-confidence, self-consciousness, and isolation can occur as a result.
Obesity is classified as one of the extremely common and serious public health problems in the world. Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading global risks of mortality in the world (World Health Organization, 2009). Furthermore, they are one of the major factors of for a number of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer (World Health Organization, 2005). According to NHS UK, obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more for adults, and the UK 1990 growth reference curves are used to define obesity for Children (Cole TJ, Freeman JV, Preece MA, 1995). The growing challenge of obesity of Europe countries is remarkable among Asian countries .In 2008, 1.4 billion adults (35%) aged 20 and over were overweight and 500 million were obese (11%). More than 40 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2012(World Health Organization, 2014). That is the global obesity situation. Furthermore, the obesity problem in the UK is not optimistic, the UK has the highest obesity rates among Europe countries, and this trend has strikingly increased over the recent years to the point where more than 20% of the population are now obese. (University of Birmingham, 2014) However, the obesity situation in Singapore is more worrisome. In 2010, 40% adults aged 18 to 69 were overweight and 10% were obese which is more than double the level seen in 1992. (Ministry of Health Singapore, 2010) This essay will
Obesity is a massive problem all around the world. It is predominantly an issue in the United Kingdom, but it also a difficulty in other countries, for instance, in the United States, Denmark, Germany, etc. Being obese may seem like an individual problem, but it can, in fact, be a social problem. In general, you can ask yourself: Who is to blame? Perhaps it is society, maybe it is the subjective experts, or conceivably it is you.