Community Health And Diseases Australia Discussion 2022

Running head: COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE: OBESITY PREVENTION
COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE: OBESITY PREVENTION IN CHILDREN AND
YOUTH
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
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COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE: OBESITY PREVENTION1
Introduction
Approximately 24% of children and youth aged 5 to 14 years were found to be
overweight and obese in Australia during 2017 to 2018 (Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare, 2018). The following paper briefly expounds upon key components of a health
promotion program.
Discussion
Interventions
One intervention will involve nutritional educational and assessment sessions concerning
balanced diet consumption and healthy weight comprising of parents, children and youth. This is
because the consumption of high fat, sugar and sodium beverages and foods have been linked to
lack of health literacy. Childhood obesity has been linked to eating patterns followed by parents
(Demir & Bektas, 2017). The next strategies will comprise of practical demonstrations where
children, youth and parents will be involved in healthy cooking sessions, nutritional label
interpretation and cost effective, nutritious food selection. This is because consumption of high
fat, sugar and sodium beverages and foods has been linked to misinterpretation of labels,
convenience, less knowledge on healthy cooking and consumption of inexpensive, energy dense
foods in low income group families (Jarpe-Ratner et al., 2016). Lastly, exercise interventions
will include both parents, youth and children since obesity has been linked to increased sedentary
lifestyles (Ham et al., 2016). Weekly counseling feedback sessions will be included for
motivation since obesity has been linked to poor psychological outcomes (Barlow et al., 2018).

COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE: OBESITY PREVENTION2
Health Promotion
Primary care health promotion will be addressed via educational and assessment sessions such as
practitioners and nurses educating parents, children and youth on balanced diet intake along with
weight measurement. Secondary health promotion will be addressed using specialist services
where nutritionists, fitness experts and counselors will demonstrate practical sessions of healthy
cooking, food selection, exercise and label interpretation to parents, youth and children (Daniels,
2019).
Intervention Phases
1. Planning: Planning will comprise of first assessing the demographics of obese children
and youth in the locality using patient records across schools, gyms, community health
clinics and weight loss centers. Children and youth with Body Mass Index (BMI) above
24.9 kg/m2 along with their parents will be recruited based on informed consent.
2. Community Engagement: Both parents of the children and youth will be included
together in educational sessions before as well as during the study along with practical
sessions of cooking, food selection, exercise and label interpretation to improved parent-
youth interaction and healthier home environments.
3. Implementation: The educational and assessment interventions will comprise of the first
phase of implementation for a period of 1 week, followed by second phase of practical
sessions of cooking, food selection, and exercise and label interpretation for the next 3
weeks.
4. Management: The interventions will be managed by supervision and weekly follow ups
by counselors, nurses, practitioners, dieticians and fitness experts.