Poor Nutrition in Australia: A Public Health Concern

Running head: COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION
Community and public health nutrition
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1COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION
Question 2
Background
Obesity is one of the leading health concerns on a global scale at present due to its high
prevalence as indicated by statistical figures. The condition has been associated with an
augmented risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, asthma and
hypercholesterolemia. Reports point out that that around 937 million adults are obese and around
396 million overweight adults across the globe. China has faced fast growth in the country’s
economy in the recent ten years. This has led to major changes in the lifestyles of individuals and
successive alterations in health patterns. The issue of growing prevalence of obesity is not
confined among adults only. Children and young adults also contribute to the total number of
obese individuals in the country to a significant extent (Hu et al., 2017).
According to Zhang et al., (2016) childhood obesity has been linked with increased risk
of obesity in adulthood that puts the individuals at risk of suffering comorbid conditions such as
hypertension and dyslipidemia. Much to the consternation of healthcare researchers both
developed and developing countries demonstrate dramatic increase in obesity prevalence in
recent times. China is one of the largest developing countries and has joined the world obesity
epidemic due to the rapid urbanization and economic growth. Hong Kong, an autonomous
territory in South China has recently come into focus for the high prevalence of obesity among
children and young adults. The prevalence of obesity among the youth and young adults in Hong
Kong has drawn significant attention in the recent past. The obesogenic environment
encompassing individuals aged between 18-25 years has been much discussed about recently due
to the possible burden on healthcare system. According to national report, the Census and
Statistics Department survey was noteworthy in bringing forward the issue of obesity among
young adults. The survey in 2015 accounted for the obesogenic environment among the youth in
Hong Kong. Around 13% of youth aged 18-24 had been suffering from obesity or overweigh
condition in the time frame between 2004 and 2014. The extent of physical activity carried out
by the target group was considerably less as per the reports, with the numbers between 51.3%
and 61.1%. Coming to the overall health condition of the population, it was noted that 1.3% had
been suffering from a chronic disease, most of which are linked with obese condition
(coy.gov.hk, 2015).

2COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION
Sun et al., (2014) analyzed the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children in
China as indicated between the years 1985 and 2010. The study mentioned that individuals aged
between 7 and 18 years reported obesity and overweight condition at 8.1% (95% CI, 8.0–8.3%)
and 19.2% (95% CI, 19.1–19.4%). The data holds prime importance in the present context since
children who are obese in their early years have more chances of remaining obese in their
adulthood. Further, the increase in public health costs on the longer run is also noteworthy.
Much discussion has been put forward at different spheres to understand the contributory
factors for obesity and overweight. The literature of Ho et al., (2013) point out that the obesity
pandemic encompassing children and young adults in China has a distinct association with
under-activity and over-eating. Further, obesity has been denoted as a socially patterned issue.
The underlying concept is that socioeconomic status leads to a temporal rise. With the growing
trends in urbanization there has a rapid change in the dietary intake of individuals. This, together
with the lack of adequate physical exercise, has contributed to the patterns of weight gain among
youth. Change in lifestyle has diminished the scope of engaging in physical exercises in the
recent times. Advancement of technologies has been repeatedly blamed for the condition.
Further, cultural belief that youth who have increased body mass are healthier has also
contributed to obesogenic environment. Social misunderstandings regarding obesity being a
predominantly genetic condition is also an issue (Thompson et al., 2015).
Analysis of the obesogenic environment in Hong Kong needs a robust framework that
can successfully gain insight into the contributory factors for high prevalence of obesity. The
Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity (ANGELO) has been pointed out to be a
suitably defined and consistent framework that brings into limelight the key reasons behind the
obesogenic environment. The framework can be perceived as the conceptual model that
establishes a link between the fundamental elements of the environment connected with obesity.
The four spheres that are considered for the analysis are socio-culture, political, economic and
physical. The ANGELO is an efficient and flexible method of deciding upon a palan for obesity
prevention in communities (Simmons et al., 2009).

3COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION
Data gap
Obesity prevention initiatives in China have attempted to integrate different approaches
derived from the understanding of the contributory factors of the condition. While research has
strived to highlight the suitable measures for obesity prevention, gaps in data pertaining to
different domains have been criticized often (Yang et al., 2017). Not much has been done to
understand the extent to which educational programs are effective in bringing about health
behavior changes among the target population. There is an urgent need of collecting accurate
data on how educational programs can motivate young adults to adhere to a healthier lifestyle in
future. Further, there is a need of understanding the impact of educational sessions on different
age groups among the population.
Prevention of obesity has been associated with changes in health behavior among the
target population across literature from different countries. As pointed out by Zhang et al.,
(2018) educational programs have the potential to bring about changes in level of motivation and
impetus to adhere to a healthier lifestyle. The researcher support that the underlying principle of
educational programs is directed towards educating the individuals about the negative impact of
obese condition. Reduction in obesogenic environment has been achieved in a number of
countries after successful implementation of prevention programs focused on educational
sessions.
Goal for data collection
Based on the above discussion it is imperative to state that the goal for data collection
that can act as the basis for obesity prevention program would be to conceptualize the efficacy of
educational sessions in bringing health behavior modifications among individuals aged between
18-25 years. The effectiveness of such sessions is to be studied in relation to motivation level of
individuals to reduce intake of unhealthy food and adhere to a healthier dietary intake pattern.
The sessions are to have the objective of promoting the importance of eating healthy and
supporting self with nutritious food options (Hawkins et al., 2018).
Objectives and strategies
Objective 1