Obesity and the Food Environment Assignment PDF

Obesity and the Food Environment
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Determinants of health:
According to WHO health is a ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and
not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Wellbeing can be defined as feeling good and
functioning well. Public health is defined as the science and art of preventing disease,
prolonging life and promoting human health through organized efforts and informed choices
of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals. Analysis of health
of particular population and risk factors associated with the population health are the basic
foundations of the public health. Public health considers physical, mental and social well-
being of the population. Interdisciplinary team need to work in integrated manner to work for
public health (Larkin, 2013).
Obesity should not be considered as local or national issue; however, it is a global issue. In
UK approximately 63 % are overweight or obese. BMI over 25 is considered as overweight
and over 30 is considered as obese. In children, this issue is more serious. Nearly, every third
chid in the age group 2 to 15 child are overweight. Prevalence of obesity is increasing on
yearly basis in UK. In men, obesity increased from 13 % in 1993 to 26 % in 2015. In women,
obesity increased form 16 % in 1993 to 26 % in 2015 (Aldhafiri et al., 2014). Even though,
there is decline in the rate of obesity after 2001, its trend is in the upward direction. These
children become obese in the early childhood and it remain with them in adulthood also.
Obesity put tremendous burden on NHS. NHS is spending approximately £6.1 billion every
year. Hence, obesity put burden on economic development of UK (Wang et al., 2011).
Health determinants are the factors which affect together to impact health of individuals and
communities. Health of people can be determined by their circumstances and environment.
Determinants of health comprises of social and economic environment, physical environment
and person’s individual characteristics and behaviours (Ratcliff, 2017).
Obesity need to be tackled considering multiple factors because multiple factors are
responsible for the occurrence of obesity like behaviour, environment, biology and
physiology and culture. Consumption of healthy diet and physical activity can be helpful in
preventing occurrence of obesity. However, it is difficult for few of the people to maintain
healthy diet and regular physical activity. It is mainly due to obesogenic environment which
comprises of more calorie intake and without physical activity. According to Public Health
Education (PHE), approximately 50,000 fast food and takeaway outlets are there in UK. It is
evident that major reason for the occurrence of obesity is consumption of takeaway food.
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Most of the food outlet clusters are present around the schools. More than 25 % adults and
more than 20 % children eat food from the fast-food centres. Food form the outlets comprises
of sugar, fat and salt and its portion is more as compared to the normal food. This
composition is major risk factor for obesity. There is year-on-year increase in consumption of
fast from outlets in UK (Cetateanu and Jones, 2014). School going children and their family
members need to be educated for healthier choices of food. However, it is difficult to find
healthy food in menus of these fast-food outlets. According to health matters, food
environment need to be changed to support children and their family members to make
healthy choices of food consumption. These fast food centres have significant impact on the
lives of the people (Williams et al., 2014).
Food environment can be changed by improving accessibility of healthy food, by
accomplishing collaborative work and partnerships among public, private and voluntary
sectors at local, national and global level. Councils can act on these fast-food outlets and seek
improvements in it to produce healthy food environment. Local councils can make simple
changes to improve food environment. These changes include reducing portion size of food,
reducing fats and frying practices, reducing salts and sugars, increasing amount of fruits and
vegetables, promoting healthier options, producing healthier ingredients and providing
calorie information (Ellaway et al., 2012). Local councils and local communities can work in
partnerships to influence positively on the food environment. Influence of food environment
is mainly evident in the older children and children those are already overweight. There are
multiple health determinants responsible for the obesity and unhealthy food environment.
These determinants include policymaking, social factors, health services, individual
behaviour and biology and genetics. Policies need to be implemented at local, state and
national level for promoting healthy food environment. Social norms, attitudes, social
support, social interaction and socioeconomic conditions can impact food environment and
obesity (Hawkes et al., 2015). Hence, these social determinants need to controlled.
Healthcare services in the deprived locality can be improved by improving availability of
healthcare services, reducing cost and providing insurance coverage. Positive change in the
individual behaviour can be helpful in reducing burden of chronic conditions like obesity.
Individual behaviour can be changed in the form of diet, physical activity, alcohol, cigarette
and hand washing. Biological and genetic factor are responsible for the occurrence of obesity
(Freisling et al., 2017).
Obesity and health inequalities:
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