Assigment .Apa seven . All instructions attached.

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Obesity

Florida National University

Alina Rivero

Health Promotion and Role Development in Advanced Nursing Practice

Professor: Alexander Garcia Salas

January 20, 2022

Obesity

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Good nutrition is a vital factor in leading a healthy life. However, poor nutrition may

lead to nutritional problems, such as poor growth, malnutrition, obesity, and overweight.

Obesity is a major health problem at the local, national and global levels as it is associated with

the prevalence of chronic diseases. It is a major risk factor for cardiovascular conditions, such

as stroke and heart diseases, diabetes as well as cancer. Obesity affects individuals of all ages.

It is, thus, important to develop effective health promotion strategies for addressing obesity in

communities.

Obesity is a serious health concern worldwide. According to global health statistics,

there is a rising number of people who are becoming overweight and obese (World Health

Organization (WHO), 2020). Obesity has been identified as a major risk factor for the

development of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and heart diseases, and one of the

leading causes of premature death. There is an estimate of 340 million adolescents and children

who are obese and overweight across the world, where it is also estimated that the number of

children and adolescents who are obese has outweighed the number of individuals who are

underweight (WHO, 2020). The main causes of the increase of obesity worldwide are

increasing urbanization as well as an increase in the dietary intake of sugary foods and fatty

meals. The health strategies towards reducing obesity worldwide include global action by

international agencies as well as promoting health education worldwide on the importance of

taking healthy meals and frequent exercises.

Obesity is also a growing health concern at the national level. According to the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is a constant rise in poor nutrition across the

country (Wang et al, 2020). Obesity, which is expressed in terms of Body Mass Index (BMI)

has had a significant and steady rise among children, adolescents, and the elderly, and

approximately, 37% of the entire population in the United States is estimated to be either obese

or overweight (Wang et al, 2020). Obesity has strongly been associated with the rising

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prevalence of health concerns, such as diabetes, heart diseases, cancerous infections as well as

stroke as contributing risk factors in the United States. Similar to the global situation, obesity

has been associated with increased dietary intake of fatty and sugary meals. Other contributing

factors include physical environments, social health determinants, and family inheritance. The

health promotion strategies towards reducing its prevalence include providing access to

healthier foods, limiting access to junk and fast foods, promoting physical activities, and health

education.

At the local level, obesity is heavily associated with disparities, including limited access

to healthier foods in some communities compared to others, and poor access to healthcare.

Geographical isolation is also a prevailing factor towards the availability of healthy foods in

communities at the local level leading to a rise in overweight and childhood obesity problems

(Belanger et al., 2020). It is important to develop health promotion strategies at the community

level such as enhancing access to community resources that facilitate access to healthy meals

such as at schools, encouraging breastfeeding, supporting the access to healthier beverages, and

building recreational facilities to encourage community members to outdoor activities.

In conclusion, obesity is a public health concern that needs to be addressed as it

contributes to lower quality of life across global, national, and local levels. At the global level,

global action by international agencies such as the World Health Organization as well as

cooperation to promote access to healthy meals would help to promote healthy living,

particularly in developing countries. At the national level, health promotion strategies such as

health education on unhealthy foods, and promoting physical activities would help address the

problem. Lastly, at the local level, combating nutritional disparities such as eliminating the

differences in access to healthy meals, encouraging breastfeeding, supporting the access to

healthier foods, and building recreational facilities to encourage community members to

outdoor activities would be important towards preventing addressing the problem of obesity.

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References

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Belanger, M. J., Hill, M. A., Angelidi, A. M., Dalamaga, M., Sowers, J. R., & Mantzoros, C. S.

(2020). disparities in nutrition and obesity. New England Journal of Medicine, 383(11),

e69. https://doi.org/ 10.1056/nejmp2021264

Wang, Y., Beydoun, M. A., Min, J., Xue, H., Kaminsky, L. A., & Cheskin, L. J. (2020). Has

the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and central obesity leveled off in the United

States? Trends, patterns, disparities, and future projections for the obesity epidemic.

International Journal of Epidemiology, 49(3), 810-823.

World Health Organization. (WHO). (2020). Overweight and obesity.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight