Obesity And Type 2 Diabetes Essay

It cannot be denied that obesity is a growing problem in today’s modern society. Individuals with obesity face many complications in their lives, such as heart complications, diabetes, osteoarthritis and of course, early mortality. However, the astonishing thing is that obesity is a preventable disease. According to (the Department of Health, 2005, p.6), 39% of Irish adults are overweight, and 18% are classified as obese. The main factors in causing obesity are poor diet, lack of activity and family genetics. Poor diet and lack of activity can easily be prevented, thus combatting obesity and improving the family genetics for future generations. The report (Obesity, a growing problem?, 2011, p. 2) illustrates that the causes of obesity are characterised as a natural reaction to an un-natural situation. The nurse has an important role in obesity prevention. Nurses, with their advanced care and medical knowledge can make a significant difference to the lives of those who are obese. This topic was chosen because the epidemic of obesity is growing increasingly more serious for a disease that can be prevented.

Obesity has played a major role in media over the last decade. With growing concern over the issue, a controversy over whether obesity is a disease itself or not has developed. Obesity, by definition, is a condition that is characterized by excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body, usually indicated by a body mass index of 30 or greater. According to the currently accepted definition of disease, a condition of the body or one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms, it can be concluded that obesity does not meet the criteria to be classified as a disease.

According to the American Diabetes Association (2016), more Americans die each year from diabetes than from AIDS and breast cancer combined. As a result, researchers have extensively studied the causes, treatments, and interventions for diabetes. Despite efforts to ameliorate its effects, diabetes remains a prevalent danger in society. In 2014, 7% of U.S. adults were living with diagnosed diabetes (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016). In Louisiana that number was even higher - 10.4% of adults have been diagnosed with diabetes. Breaking it down by age group, however, in Louisiana 3% of people aged 18 and 44 have been diagnosed, and 15.2% of people 45-64. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015a). Several studies have predicted future rates of diabetes, both in the United States and worldwide - nearly all of these studies reached a similar conclusion: rates of diabetes will continue to rise (Boyle et al., 2001).

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.

Over one-half of all Americans are overweight or obese. If you are overweight or obese, carrying this extra weight puts you at risk for developing many diseases. Women generally have more subcutaneous fat than men, but appear to suffer a greater cardiovascular risk from a given degree of fat than women.

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.

In article one Maia Szalavitz, wrote an article titled, “Viewpoint: Defining Obesity as a Disease May do More Harm Than Good.” She is a neuroscience journalist from Time Magazine, who talked about the harmful effect classifying obesity will have on one’s life, as well as others around them. In article two Dr. Keith Ablow’s article is called, “Obesity is not a Disease- and Neither is Alcoholism.” He is a psychiatrist and a member of the Fox Medical A-Team who talked about the solution to obesity, may be as simple as raising someone’s self-esteem. Both these articles talk why one should not classify obesity as a disease, but only one talks about the solution to solve the problem of obesity. Even though Szalavitz and Ablow are similarly matched rhetorically by taking a world-wide problem and discussing the issue of classifying it as a disease; Ablow is more rhetorically effective, because he uses more examples and evidence from different sources to back up his reasoning.

Additional Questions to be Answered: 1. Why is Type 2 Diabetes an issue in our Community

There is a problem that is sweeping the world and has literally been growing on billions of people. This problem can lead to complications such as heart disease, and is a leading cause of death. This disease, which has also cost billions of dollars, is obesity, a disorder “involving an excessive amount of body fat” (“Obesity Definition” Mayo Clinic). However, the National Obesity Foundation is making excellent efforts at putting an end to this issue. Together with this foundation, a difference can be made in this world to help those with and prevent obesity by raising awareness, running programs to help victims lead healthier lifestyles, and fighting for national patient

For the initial assessment of baseline involvement in PA, 450 school-aged children from Kelowna were monitored using pedometers. All data was obtained through the CanPlay survey in 2017. Children aged 6-18 years of age with were selected and placed into three age group: 6-11 years, 12-14 years and 15-18 years. Each group consisted of 150 children, with 75 boys and 75 girls. Descriptive statistics along with pedometer data for each group used in data collection is shown in Table 1. Upon reviewing the data, the City of Kelowna has requested a new strategy to increase PA in children and decide which age group to focus on, based on the data. It was also requested that a delivery strategy will be outlined and how measureable

Some of these people believe that bariatric surgery is a more promising method of managing diabetes (Chhabra, et. al., 2013). This solution is believed to have maximum effectiveness in moderately obese patients who are at risk for cardiovascular diseases. Since bariatric surgery offers rapid weight loss, researchers of this study believe this method is more effective and efficient than standard medicine and traditional diet and exercise plans. This rapid weight loss has been credited for effective diabetes management in addition to remission of the condition. However, although this option may look like an easy fix, it is not always as beneficial as it may appear. Between 25 and 40% of individuals with type 2 diabetes are not able to achieve or maintain normal blood glucose levels without medication following a bariatric surgery (Kashyap, & Schauer, 2012). This means that a significant number of type 2 diabetics who go through the trouble and expense of bariatric surgery, may be disappointed to find that they are not cured and still need to manage their disease after

Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges facing adult in the United State of America today. Excess weight can lead to a number of debilitating conditions including Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke. Obesity is a rapidly increasing problem. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention Fact sheet In the last ten years obesity has nearly trebled adult women and nearly quadrupled in men it now affects over one in five adults in the in United States. Central for disease and prevention, stated that the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes has increased dramatically in the last decade, primarily because of the link with obesity (CDC)

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.

The second article selected as best evidence was a randomized control trial by (Anita P. Courcoulas, Bret H Goodpaster, Jessie Eagleton, Steven H Belle, Melissa A Kalarchian, Wei Land, and Frederico G.S. Toledo, 2014). The study concluded that bariatric surgery was an effective weight loss measure that resulted in low HbA1c, low glycemic index, decrease in diabetes medication intake and type II diabetes remission. The sample size was small which affecting the study findings generalizability and transferability. In addition, the study included people with broad range of diabetes severity and follow up was limited to 1 year leading to no definitive conclusions drawn. (Courcoulas et al, 2014). Strengths of the study were, it was a comparison of two current and most common surgical procedure with an intensive non-surgical arm that has been reported (Courcoulas et al, 2014). There was consistency findings in comparison to other studies which increased the study’s reliability .There is a further need for randomized control trial in larger population and in different sites to compare the three bariatric surgical procedures with conventional therapy in long term management of type II diabetes. Despite much interest and growing body of literature, there is lack of enough level 1 evidence to support the use of bariatric surgery to treat type II diabetes, bariatric surgery is

This paper critiqued a study that was aimed at comparing between traditional medical therapy and bariatric surgery in the control of diabetes mellitus type 2. The study had scientific rigor. It contributed new knowledge on the management of diabetes type 2 without focusing on losing weight.