Prevention of Obesity

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Prevention of Obesity
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Community Health Nursing Diagnosis

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Obesity can be defined as a medical condition or a disorder characterized by the
accumulation of excessive body fats. My community health nursing diagnosis will focus on
prevention of obesity among children below the age of 18years within my state North Carolina,
Charlotte. The population at North Carolina state is estimated to be around 10.5 million people
compared to 2009 population of 9.5million people within a size of 139,390 Km square. Majority
of people within this state experience health challenges such as unhealthy weight, heart diseases,
and diabetes. The three challenges are associated with increased body fats accumulation which
leads to obesity. Children become susceptible to obesity due to a combination of factors such as
unhealthy eating patterns, lack of physical activities or genetic factors.
How Obesity Is Linked To Health Inequality
Increased weight or obese among children in the United State is becoming a major health
concern. The risk of obesity or overweight among children is likely to be transformed into
adolescents or adult overweight or obesity making them susceptible to chronic conditions such as
diabetes or heart diseases later in life. Obese children may also be associated with health
conditions such as low self-esteem, sadness, and stress. Apart from genetic obesity, parents also
contribute to overweight to their children by not limiting the types of foods their children take
while at home. They don ́t make nutrition choices for their children and advise them
appropriately on need of physical activities which is essential in burning excessive fats.
Healthcare providers may also be blamed for not providing nutrition advice to community
members when they visit healthcare centers and lack of public or school campaigns on healthy
diets with a primary focus of preventing overweight that leads to obesity (Frederick, Snellman &
Putnam, 2014).
Primary Community Resources For Prevention Of Obesity Among Children

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Primary prevention of obesity in the community can include interventions such as
successful weight loss and maintenance programs. Other interventions such as increasing
physical activity and improving eating habits may also help to control overweight issues that
result in obesity. Community resources such as open play grounds for children and diet control
programs which aims at utilizing whole grains, vegetables and fruits found within the community
can help in management of weight issues (Dawes, 2014).
Bicycling and walking to school should also be encouraged to keep children physically fit
and healthy. Communities should design places where children can play safely, travel by other
self-propelled means including activities that need active participation of children to help in
burning excessive fats from the body. Food control programs can also be promoted within
families and schools to ensure only healthy foods are provided to children to avoid issues of
overweight due to consumption of unhealthy food (Cunningham, Kramer & Narayan, 2014).
According to my community analysis and assessment, I found valuable resources which
can help to prevent childhood obesity. These resources include parks, gyms and grocery stores.
Grocery stores provide fruit market and fresh vegetables including private shops which offer
optional foods both unhealthy and healthy. The community also has local growers who provide
farmers market with other products affordable for low income people. There are also other
organizations within the community which provide support on children healthcare which include
education on health conditions such as childhood obesity. The organizations also provide
education programs for families within the community to enable them to have right knowledge
on the right foods which are healthy for their children. Finally the community has healthcare
department which provide health education about nutrition to mothers of chilren under five
years, infants, breastfeeding and pregnant women. Healthcare facility also provide screening and

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vaccination services to the community including other public health services.
Causes Of Obesity Among Children
The most causes of obesity among children is unhealthy eating patterns, lack of physical
activities, genetic factors or a combination of these factors.
Evidence-Based Practice
Obesity in children is becoming a major public health concern since it can be transmitted
from childhood to adolescents and later on adulthood leading to the development of
cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart diseases during
adulthood. According to the National Survey of Children ́s Health conducted between 2016 and
2017, the prevalence of obesity among children was 17.2%. An epidemic of obesity has affected
both adolescents and children across developing and developed world in recent years. The issue
of obesity has overtaken prevalence of underweight in many developing countries including
USA. according to studies conducted on obesity prevalence, treatment of obesity condition
among children mismatched between the scale of the problem and weak strategies for dealing
with it.(Kaur, Lamb & Ogden, 2015).
Childhood obesity is becoming a major public health concern bringing the challenge from
both regulatory and legislative proposals at local level, state and at the national level. There has
been a slow research which consequently resulted into slow scope and urgency of the crisis
amounting to 17% of youths being clinically obese. To make a meaningful approach, a
comprehensive evidence based policy approach is required. According to researchers, policy
making approach has not been frequently utilized or supported by research evidence which has
led to political expediency during policy decision making, values, anecdotes and consitituent
concerns. There is also little information available to indicate how research evidence compared