Obesity in North Coast Assignment
Added on 2021-06-16
11 Pages2241 Words18 Views
Assessment 1Obesity in North CoastStudents NameInstitutional Affiliation1
Obesity in the North Coast One of the primary public health challenges in Australia and other continents is obesity. Obesity is a condition that results from too much accumulation of body fat which causes adverse effects on the health of an individual. It relates to both systemic and environmental factors whichinfluence eating and activity behaviors. The leading causes include consumption of food with high level of calories. It is also caused by lack of adequate physical activity which helps in burning excess calories in the body. Some genetic factors also predispose individuals to obesity. The lifestyle of a person such as the consumption of unhealthy diets also exposes an individual toobesity. Some medications also have the potential of causing obesity (Obesity.imedpub.com, 2018).There is high obesity prevalence of Obesity in Australia. The rate of obesity in North Coast, New South Wales is estimated at 50.9% with 29% as adults and children at 21.9%. Although the percentage is lower in some other regions, it remains a serious health concern due to the rising cases of obesity in the area. Obesity has negatively affected the physical, psychological and social health of people of North coast. It has led to the increase in the number of cardiovascular diseases, type two diabetes, and stroke. As a result, the mortality and morbidityrates have increased and hence adversely affecting the economy. It has also led to psychological effects such as depression, low quality of life and anxiety among the obese people. This has resulted in early deaths and low school performance (Rahman and Harding, 2013).2
Controlling obesity is one of the Australian National Health Priorities designed by the National government and relevant stakeholders. The government has put into place measures to help eradicate the disease. It is focused on encouraging physical activities among the Australians.It also aims at ensuring that the people consume low-risk foods by increasing taxes on the unhealthy foods. The introduction of taxes has ensured that manufacturers have changed from producing foods rich in sugar and salts to prevent business losses. The government has also banned the advertisements of foods that are high in sugar during the children viewing hours (Sharma, 2013).The government has funded education and media advertising programs that educate Australians on the benefits of consuming healthy foods and physical activity. It has also developed food labeling to ensure that individuals make good health choices why purchasing products. The government has provided proper training and placement of primary health workerswith the aim of ensuring that there is enough workforce. It has also increased the funding programs in the primary health care setting to ensure that people are well educated on the proper nutrition and physical activity. All these actions are aimed at ensuring that the prevalence of obesity is reduced to improve the health of the people (Hawkes, 2015)According to (Braveman and Gottlieb, 2014), the socio determinants of health include both the economic and social that impact and indicate the health of a population or community. The three socio determinants of health that have a direct effect on obesity include low socioeconomicstatus, lack of education and gender. There is a strong relationship between low income and high obesity rates. Studies indicate that individuals from low-income countries have a possibility of developing obesity compared to high-income countries. This may be influenced by the fact that they lack fitness facilities and adequate nutrition. Lack of education on the benefits of consuming3
healthy foods and the effects of consumption of food with high fats and sugar results increase therates of obesity (N, 2015). Recent studies in Australia indicates that men have a high prevalence of obesity compared to women. This is attributed to the fact that men do not pay attention to theirweight which makes them less likely to notice that they are obese. They then end up not taking appropriate action and hence developing adverse health effects from the disease (Swinburn & Wood, 2013).4
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