Public Health Reflection

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.

3) Which one of those below is not used to define a profession? A profession

Various regions of the world have different responses to the issue of obesity. Some cultures view obesity as necessary and attractive while others are taking drastic measures in an attempt to promote a healthy lifestyle. Although some of these drastic changes seem a bit invasive and controversial, policy makers are debating whether it is effective and even whether or not such a policy should be adopted in the United States. According to the article written by Gallagher, a culture sensitive approach should be implemented in order to tackle the issue of global obesity. A study of children of Mexican descent showed that about 32.6% of Mexican children occupying the U.S. are overweight and about 19.2% are obese (Gallagher 2010). The parents observed in this study were serving their children unhealthy foods, such as those from cans and fast food restaurants, due to price and convenience (Gallagher 2010).

Obesity in America is real and profoundly alarming when you look at the major impact it has on our communities. Major health concerns like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure cases are at an all time high. Specifically, the disparity between low-income urban inner cities in regards to obesity as compared to more upper class wealthier communities makes you take pause. This relates to my professional goals of going back into my community as an activist and organizer of issues related to my environment, like health and education.

William Beveridge was a man whom was asked by government to write a report on the best and most effective ways to help those on low incomes. This was after the Second World War when people felt they needed rewarding, which the government responded to by promising to create a more equal society. In Beveridge’s report in December 1942, he proposed that all people of a working age should contribute, which would benefit people who were sick, unemployed, retired, or widowed.

Hi, dear class director, thank you for letting us participate in the recent health fair. I just received your evaluation saying students forced to work the extra hours and complained about it the whole time regarding the health fair that was held on March, 31st 2018. I have to disagree with your evaluation because as you know we were short on students in some areas of the health fair and we had to step up and cover where our help was needed more. I believe all of the students including my self, did a good job and the students deserve a pat on the back, and maybe they deserve a soaring eagle as a reward won't be that bad too. In spite of being a student with not much of experience and new to this sort of project, I think everybody did very well

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)

Overall, I have been very impressed with how this course is going so far. I appreciate having a short presentation on the topic each week then having the opportunity to discuss the topic with other group members. I have learned a lot from the readings as well as from other group members. By having everyone share their ideas and thoughts, I feel that I have gotten more out of this course than I had expected. With everyone coming from different educational backgrounds and experiences, it has been interesting to be exposed to different ideas and perceptions on some of these topics. In addition, having group members question and challenge my ideas have promoted me to think more in-depth and explore more closely about the topics. As of right now, there seems to be no issues with my group. Everyone participates in weekly discussions as well as writing the summary. Ideas and opinions are shared in a respectful manner

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.

Obesity is becoming one of the biggest problems in the country, but there has to be reasons for it. It can be the economy, society now, or people and companies. It’s time that our country starts to realize that we can’t live like this anymore. We need to see what is causing the sudden rise in obesity, and what we can do to fix it. Education of risks and solutions can be very helpful. Obesity is killing so many people, yet is still 100 percent avoidable. Our country is beginning to care less and really let themselves go. The fast food industry, supermarkets, and schools are the ones at fault for the spreading problem of obesity.

According to the Center of Diseases and Control Center facts, during the previous 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase of weight in the United States and the rate continues to remain high. With the estimate of more than 33% of the United States adults (34.9%) and pretty near 17% or (12.7 million) of kids and youths matured 2-19 years of age are obese” (CDC, 2014). According to a study released in June of 2013, Mexico have passed the United States as the ‘fattest’ nation on 50% of the globe (CBS news, July 2013). With a 32.8 percent adult obesity rate, Mexico simply creeps past the 31.8% obesity rate in the United States, as indicated by a study released in June of 2013 by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. With food, oil, gas, lack of stability, unemployment, and finance, body weight and statistics are continually changing not only yearly but daily for many individuals.

Two summers ago, my godfather called me to work for The Heart of St. Louis Adult Health Daycare because there’s someone who really needs me and I answered to him why? He stated to go see for myself. When I arrive at The Heart of St. Louis Adult Health Daycare, the director gave me a tour and I saw the deaf elder man was so confused. I was really upset that they couldn’t help him get what he needed due to his disability. This has really impacted me that no one wanted to help the deaf elder man so I decided to take over activities assistance and interpret position immediately, just for him to represent my deaf community that I can be the person who is willing to sacrificed my time and my work. The point is not all businesses/public services shouldn’t

To begin, most of my Rural-Public health hours have been spent at health fairs. I have been all over the San Luis Valley from Conejos to Del Norte to Monte Vista to Alamosa. They have been good experiences. I get to talk to a bunch of different people every time. Plus, at some of them I have seen people from previous fairs. It is definitely cool to see how dedicated some people are on keeping on top of their health, especially if they have known problems. This would be considered secondary prevention due to the population being screened for any health problems specifically hypertension and high cholesterol.

For the purpose of confidentiality and anonymity, I have changed the patients name and throughout of the reflection I will refer to them as Mrs Smith.