Community Health Nursing Intervention Strategies for Obesity

Running head: DISCUSSIONS 1
Discussions
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DISCUSSIONS 2
Community health nursing intervention strategies will best be suited to address
obesity and how they will be implemented in my project.
According to the World Health Organization, obesity is defined as the accumulation of
fats in the body. This condition poses a great risk to the health of those affected. The measure for
obesity is known as Body Mass Index which the weight in kilograms divided by the square of
height in meters. A Body Mass Index of above 30 is considered obese (Ling, Robbins, & Wen,
2016). Obesity is a major risk factor for different health conditions. The most notable according
to the World Health Organization include diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Previously, diabetes was considered a problem in high income countries alone but the situation
has filtered to both low and middle income countries (Tucker & Lanningham-Foster, 2015).
Therefore, there is the need for urgent nursing intervention to control diabetes.
The center for Disease Control and prevention propose community based nursing
interventions to prevent obesity within communities. The strategies include early care and
education, salad bars to schools, healthy food environments, healthy hospitals and finally
physical activity community strategies. To eliminate obesity in my community, I would employ
similar strategies or interventions.
Physical activity community strategies are the best. According to the world health
organizations, 2 to 5 hours of physical activities per day can control obesity. I will therefore
employ or encourage my community to take part in physical activities (Pbert et al., 2016). To
implement this strategy, I will use social media platforms to encourage communities and educate
them on the importance of physical activities. Furthermore, I can come up with games on a daily
basis so that as participants enjoy playing, excessive fats are metabolized.

DISCUSSIONS 3
Creating healthy food environments is another good community health interventions to
address obesity. According to recent studies, unhealthy eating habits is the leading cause of
obesity within communities. I would therefore implement this strategy within my community to
ensure that the populations eat healthy foods (Seburg, Olson-Bullis, Bredeson, Hayes, &
Sherwood, 2015). This includes mobilizing supermarkets to indicate calories content on food
products. I would also implement and support nutrition standards for child care, schools and
work sites. Furthermore, I would provide information to schools on the recommended healthy
foods to feed children. This will in the long run, reduce obesity in my community (Snethen,
Broome, Treisman, Castro, & Kelber, 2016). Family, early care and education for children
within my community can assist in prevention of obesity. This includes educating children in my
community on the consequences of unhealthy food and lack of physical activities. This will go a
long way in impacting whatever the child eats and how active they are.
Patient-centeredness in the context of evidence-based practice
Patient centered care according to the World Health Organization, is providing care to
patients and their families in a manner that is meaningful and valuable to both the patient and the
family members. This basically involves listening to the needs of the patients (Tseng & Hicks,
2016). The Institute of Medicine outlines eight basic principles that govern patient centered care
and they include respect for patients, coordination and integration of care, information and
education, physical comfort, emotional support and alleviation of fear and anxiety and finally
access to healthcare.