Adult Obesity: Identifying the Problem, Investigating the Issue, and Providing Solutions

This proposal discusses the problem of adult obesity, including its contributing factors and evidence supporting the issue. It provides solutions and resources to implement them, including a cost-benefit analysis and a timeline for implementation. Key stakeholders and partners are also identified.

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL IMAGE
Adult obesity
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
A. written proposal.....................................................................................................................2
1. Identify a problem or issue related to the population.............................................................2
a. Applicability of the issue in the health care environment...............................................2
2. Investigation of the problem or issue.................................................................................2
a. Evidence supporting the problem................................................................................3
3. Current data........................................................................................................................4
a. Factors contributing to the problem............................................................................4
4. Solution for this problem...................................................................................................5
a. Justify of the solution..................................................................................................5
5. Recommend resources to implement the solution.............................................................5
a. Cost-benefit analysis...................................................................................................6
6. Timeline for implementation..............................................................................................7
7. Key stakeholders and/or appropriate partners....................................................................7
a. Importance of the Key stakeholder..............................................................................7
b. Engagement with the key stakeholders....................................................................8
c. Work with those key stakeholders...............................................................................8
8. Implementation of the solution..........................................................................................8
a. Implementation can be successful...............................................................................9
B. Fulfilling the following roles:-..............................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................11

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A. written proposal
1. Identify a problem or issue related to the population
The issue identified is Adult obesity in the population. Adult obesity is a complicated
health concern, which mainly results as of a mixture of basis and contributing features, which
includes aspect like behavior and genetics (Brisbois, Farmer & McCargar, 2012). According
to WHO, obesity is an abnormal or unnecessary fat accumulation in the body of an individual
that may negatively affect the health of that person. One of the most important concepts in
obesity is the BMI, which is an index that indicates the balance of the weight-for-height of an
individual. This index is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults. In
2016, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of these over 650
million were obese (Who.int, 2018).
WHO defines overweight and obesity among the adults as:
 BMI greater than or equal to 25 is overweight
 BMI greater than or equal to 30 is obesity
BMI provides the most useful population-level measure of overweight and obesity as
it is the same for both sexes and for all ages of adults. Nevertheless, BMI is not a concrete
framework rather it is a guideline, as it may not match up to the same degree of fat content in
different individuals.
However, as per behaviors it can include the patterns of diet adult follows, physical
activities, in-activities, medication used as well as other revelations. Moreover, rest of the
contributing features in the society includes the food and physical movement environment,

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learning as well as skills along with food advertisements and promotion. Several major health
issues have been reported due to obesity. Usually the practitioner informs patients who are
identified of being overweight that they have to control their weight as it may lead to obesity.
The cause of obesity and overweight is the imbalance in between consuming and expending
of energy. Increased intake of food that is high in calories and fats as well as physical
inactivity due to the increasingly sedentary nature of many forms of work, changing modes of
transportation, and increasing urbanization are some of the cause obesity.
a. Applicability of the issue in the health care environment
Adult obesity is applicable to the area of population and the healthcare environment
becomes a wide-reaching problem affecting rich as well as poor. However, as per the current
global estimates around 500 million individuals fall in the adult obese category (Goacher,
Lambert & Moffatt, 2012). Obesity is considered to be a severe distress because it is
connected with unfortunate mental wellbeing effect, diminish the value of life as well as it is
one of the major causes of death in US and universally involving diabetes, heart disease,
strokes even few types of cancer. Therefore, obesity usually takes place when people
consume too many calories and lessen any kind of physical activity.
2. Investigation of the problem or issue
The issue of Adult obesity is discussed with the help of the information that can be
gathered from hospital records, journals current data from the magazines and newspapers as
well as registered and governmental websites. As per the investigations, more than one-third
of the residents of US are suffering from obesity (Zukiewicz-Sobczak et al., 2014).
Moreover, investigation further suggests that the estimated medical cost of the obese adults is
higher in comparison to those with normal weight. Moreover, an important issue leading
people towards obesity is Globalization because of these worlds become more affluent.

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Therefore, poor countries moves up in the income scale for which the people are seen to have
been shifting from keep going from traditional to overeating diets.
a. Evidence supporting the problem
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),
grouping of large trading economies, US have the maximum rate of obesity. As per the
investigations in 1962, the obesity rate was 23% and it went on increasing (Miller et al.,
2012). However, in 1997, the rate total percentage of US population reached to 39.4% then in
2004 it is 44.5%, followed by 56.6% in 2007 and 63.8% in 2008. However, obesity rates have
highly increased in US over the preceding few decades (Xiang & An, 2015). Amid 1986 and
2000, the dominance of rigorous obesity quadrupled to one in two hundred Americans to one
in fifty.
(Source: Xi et al., 2012)

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3. Current data
According to the OECD organizational assessment, 3/4th of the US populations are
likely to become obese by 2020. However, it has been observed in the 2017 by The State of
Obesity 2017: Better Policies for a Healthier America, reports that adult obesity rates has
declined in Kansas whereas, on the contrary the rate of obesity has been increased in the
Colorado, Minnesota, Washington, and West Virginia in between 2015 and 2016 (Le et al.,
2014). Moreover, by 2017 obesity rates has been exceeded 35% in 5 states of US, 30% in 25
states and 25% in 46 states. The present data on obesity suggests that 8% of the US adults do
not meet up the recommendation for Government’s National Physical Activity for aerobic
activity and muscle strengthening (Ng et al., 2014).
a. Factors contributing to the problem
The areas that contribute to adult obesity are as follows-
 Genetics- Genes might have an effect on the amount of body fat that is stored
 Lifestyle- Obesity also runs in families. Thus, not only genes but eating and activity
habits are also there
 Inactivity- People who are not very active and burn less calories can contribute to
mass gain
 Unhealthy diet- diet with high calories, less fruits and vegetables, fast foods can also
lead to weight gain
 Few medications- several medications also guide to weight gain if they are not
followed with proper diets and activities
 Social and economic issues
 Age- obesity can occur at any age
 Pregnancy- During pregnancy women gain weight which they find difficult to lose
post pregnancy, thus leading to obesity

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 Quit Smoking
 Lack of sleep- not receiving enough sleep or excess sleep can cause modification in
the hormones, which in turn increases appetite (Dombrowski et al., 2012).
4. Solution for this problem
The only solution to this problem is precaution that is whether people are at a risk or
currently overweight, they can always avoid unhealthy weight gain and associated health
issues. Lack of knowledge in these cases are one of the major barriers which practitioners
face, as the impact of the condition on health is slow people do not take the situation
seriously which leads to further growth of weight. People should be educated and made more
aware of the negative impacts of being overweight and how it should not be taken lightly.
The measuring the weight of the patient in any case is mandatory, in case the doctor finds any
irregularity in the BMI the patient should be warned and indicated regarding the same.
Regular exercise or physical activities like fast walking or swimming, following a healthy
eating diet which should include low calorie, nutritious foods and avoiding saturated fats,
alcohol and limiting sweets are solutions to this problem (Kelly et al., 2013) should be
planned and made sure that the patient follows the same. Moreover, monitoring the weight on
regular basis is important followed by a control in the eating habits and lastly, being
consistent towards following a healthy plan throughout the weeks, weekends and holidays.
a. Justify of the solution
The main aim of the solution provided above is to make people stay at a healthy
weight. Thus, the main solution is weight loss so that the health can improve. In obesity the
more weight one loses the more beneficial it will be for them. However, for weight loss the
eating habits needs to be changed as well as people needs to be habituated with physical
activities to burn the extra calories. Therefore, based on the investigations done on adult

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obesity decreased calories and healthier eating habits can successfully overcome obesity (An,
2014).
5. Recommend resources to implement the solution
The resources required for implementing the above provided solution are as follows-
 Monetary resources- without financial help this solution will head nowhere.
Therefore, funding will be needed
 Human resources- This includes the clerical staffs, clinicians and nurse etc. there is
also requirement for physiotherapists, nutritionists, dietary experts behavior counselor
and obesity specialists who can not only guide but also support the people to reduce
weight in order to improve their health.
 Instruments and hardware items- This include all the instruments needed to diagnose
the people with obesity. For instance- weight machine,
 Medications- along with healthy diet and exercise in some cases prescribed weight
loss medication can also help people to overcome obesity
 Administration: management should consider appointing a supervisor in order to keep
a check on the process (Xu & Xue, 2016).
a. Cost-benefit analysis
Tangible Benefits
Category In $US
Reduction of obesity
$
4,500.00
Minimizing the issue of over weight
$
2,500.00
Burn out extra calories
$
7,500.00
Healthier eating habits’
$
10,500.0
0
Other
$
-
Total Tangible Benefits $

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LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL IMAGE
25,000.0
0
Tangible One-Time Costs
Category In $US
Hardware resources
$
20,000.0
0
Human resources
$
15,000.0
0
Medication activities
$
1,000.00
Other resources
$
2,500.00
$
-
$
-
Total Tangible One-Time Costs
$
38,500.0
0
6. Timeline for implementation
Activities 1st Month 2nd -3rd
Month
4th -5th
month
6th -7th
month
8th-11th
month
12th month
Identification
of problem

Current
situation
analysis

Identification
of factors

Resources 
Solution 
Monitor 

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7. Key stakeholders and/or appropriate partners
In any organisation there are two kinds of stakeholders one that operate from within
the organisation and the other that is impacted from the operations of them, they are external
stakeholders. In this case, the key stakeholders who are involved in implementing this
solution will be a team of health professionals, which will include internal stakeholders like
the physicians, dietitian, and obesity specialists. The external stakeholders are patients and
behavior counselor.
The internal stakeholders are the ones who can help the adult obese to understand
their situations and make necessary changes in the eating as well as activities (Carvajal et al.,
2013). Through these key stakeholders, one can easily understand the risk factors affecting
their health conditions, which can further help them to take their treatment decisions.
a. Importance of the Key stakeholder
Internal stakeholders
The physicians who are looking after the cases are the main stakeholder, most of the time
people visit the physicians but the root cause of case may arise to be obesity in that case the
physician will take necessary actions.
The dietitians play a major role in guiding adult obese people that how they can achieve
authentic and lasting weight loss. Further, they can also help in ensuring the nutritional needs
required for people encountered with obesity (Raynor & Champagne, 2016).
Obesity specialists are people who are trained to use wide treatment plans as well as
surgery when needed.
External stakeholders

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The patients are one of the most important stakeholder of the plan as they are the
once who are directly impacted with the decisions of the organisation. The main purpose of
the assignment is to deal with the condition that they have.
Behavior counselors are important because they can help address the unlikely patient’s
expectations. However, counselor can not only do weight counseling to the patients but can
also provide them knowledge regarding several topics involving the efficiency of popular
diets (Dietz et al., 2015).
b. Engagement with the key stakeholders
Nurses in the primary care are responsible to deal with a larger population, talk about
weight with the patients, and further propose management advices. Therefore, along with the
stakeholders nurses are equally important because they can provide obesity supervision to the
patients who have co-morbid circumstances and are regular in the clinics of persistent
diseases. Thus, nurses can help the patients address their weights in a routine manner. They
further provide the primary care, which are very much essential (Nolan et al., 2012).
Dietitian: the role of the dietitian is essential in this sector they are responsible for
organizing and planning the measures that has to be undertaken in order to deal with the
condition.
Behavior counselors: they will engage the patients in case they need help in coping with
mental difficulties regarding the weight.
Obesity specialists: they deal with the side effects and extreme health conditions that is
caused due to obesity.

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c. Work with those key stakeholders (interaction)
If the patient is diagnosed with obesity by the physician no matter what other condition
they are suffering, they must go through a process of controlling and monitoring the
condition of obesity. Together with the health care professionals, the obesity specialist can
help recognizing the individuals who have obesity what they require in order to deal with the
condition. They will also help in educating and supporting the patients regarding over weight.
The dietitian and the obesity specialist will work closely with the patients. However, after
identification those patients can be treated according to the needs. Medical professionals have
knowledge of the disease and so they can help the obese to understand that this is a disease
not just a lifestyle choice (Jackson et al., 2013). Therefore, the range of obesity can be
diagnosed and after that appropriate treatment plan can be provided which can help in
successful treatment of adult obesity. On the other hand, if the doctor who is treating a
particular patient feels that they need extra support they can ask them to visit a behavioral
counselor. This is because obesity may also lead to several physiological issues as well
(Stanfordhealthcare.org, 2018).
8. Implementation of the solution
The idea is not only to combat the condition of obesity but also about spreading
awareness among the people regarding the condition and how it should not be taken lightly
under any circumstance. The implementation process can begin with an inclusive lifestyle
management that must involve self-monitoring of the ingestion of calories as well as physical
activity, setting of goals, controlling of the stimulus, nonfoods incentives as well as a
prevention of relapse. These can only be possible if the patient is motivated and the
healthcare teams are highly committed (Plourde & Prud’homme, 2012). The implementation
of the solution must also include weight loss programs which are very much successful as
well as affordable than the primary care practices to solve problems like adult obesity. As the

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interaction with the stakeholders suggest if a patient is diagnosed with a condition which is
due to obesity then they will have to be under constant treatment and strict diet to control and
monitor the situation. These people will also be encouraged by the doctors and authorities to
contribute towards the awareness campaign by joining the cause and sharing their experience
so that others can learn from them. One of the easy ways to get attention is to include famous
people to the drive this will help in engaging the people in the process of joining the cause.
People will be encouraged to take care of their near and dear ones.
a. Implementation can be successful
The solution should be tracked whether it is being successful or not and for that the
patients needs to keep a daily record of their measurements, food intakes as well as about
their workouts. Moreover, from the clinical records also it can be evaluated if the
recommended solutions are at all going in the right direction. Therefore, the results can be
highly reflected by taking the body fat percentage. Moreover, the evaluation can be done
through readiness of the patients to make changes, then through the diet and physical
activity history.
Another most important step that will be taken in order to monitor the progress is to
conduct a research with the regular patients as well as the patients who were under
treatment. This is give a clearer and rational view of the situation.
B. Fulfilling the following roles:-
1. Scientist- A scientist is a person who is thinks logically and rationalizes with facts in order
to conclude they are also responsible for inventing new ideas and concepts. A scientist deals
with the scientific aspect of a subject, strives towards deriving new solutions to problems, and
issues this makes a scientist a leader. As a nursing student, I am continuously observing areas
of practice along with which I have a habit of constantly asking questions related to why the

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things are like the way they are. Therefore, as a nurse I fulfill the role of a scientist being
intensely curious about other’s belief’s and keep on testing them just to verify if it at all fit
the actual observations. However, I am not at all satisfied with the answers and always try to
seek out evidence-based literature so that I can support my practice. Therefore, investigating
the problem I had always depended on the information are based on literature (Wilson et al.,
2015).
2. Detective- Being a nurse I also had to play the role of a detective while investigating about
the problem and for that, I was collecting information to resolve the adult obesity in the
population by talking with the patients, medical professionals and by collecting evidences
and records regarding adult obesity. This process has guided me to highlight the problem to
reach the convenient solution. Therefore, before reaching the solution I need to evaluate the
information at hand and then, considering the pros and cons the solution is decided.
3. Manager- Throughout the investigation, being a nurse managing patients also becomes an
important role. Taking the managers role not only help in recruiting and retaining nursing
staffs but also guided me to team up with the other medical professionals on patient care
(Kallas, 2014). Apart from these during the investigation phrase as a manager, I had to
manage patients as well as the stakeholders so that solution is reached for the problem
occurring in the population.
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