NUR329 Health Promotion Project: Combating Obesity in Teenagers

This report outlines a comprehensive health promotion project aimed at addressing the growing issue of obesity among teenagers in Sidney. It begins by highlighting the significance of the issue, citing statistics on the prevalence of obesity and its associated health risks, such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The project focuses on teenagers aged 11-19, exploring the causes of obesity, including socioeconomic factors, lifestyle choices, and lack of physical activity. The report details primary and secondary prevention strategies, emphasizing the importance of SMART objectives and community consultation. It also examines the roles of various stakeholders, including the government, NGOs, healthcare professionals, and parents, in implementing and supporting the project. The project proposes specific interventions, such as promoting healthy eating habits, reducing sedentary behavior, and increasing physical activity. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for early intervention and ongoing support to prevent long-term health complications associated with obesity and to foster a healthier lifestyle for teenagers. The project also addresses the biases and discrimination faced by obese individuals and emphasizes the importance of creating an inclusive environment.

Running head: OBESITY 1
Student name
Student No.
Unit
Title: A Health Promotion Project towards Fighting Obesity among Teenagers

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Introduction
The current world disease profile has struck the attention of policy makers and health
care professionals. Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity are the most rising disease
epidemics in the society today. Among these diseases obesity has caused more serious public
harm, with it contributing to more than 2.6 million deaths per year. Other than being a risk factor
for cardiovascular disease, obesity is also linked with high morbidity and mortality rates, as well
as low life expectancy. This century has been faced with increased health care costs due to
increased cases of obesity and other related complications among the children and adolescents
(Alberga, Sigal, Goldfield, Prud'Homme, & Kenny, 2012). These diseases are affecting both
developing and developed nations, without discriminating based on socio-economic status, sex,
ethnicity or age. More than 22 million children below the age of 5 years is obese and among
every 10 children one is overweight. This project will entirely major on obesity among the
adolescent or teenagers (11-19 years old) both boys and girls at Sidney.
Health promotion importance and target group
Obesity and overweigh among children and adolescents are described based on age and
sex specific nomograms for the body mass index. When a teenager’s BMI equals or exceeds the
age gender specific 95th percentile, then the teen is said to be obese. When the BMI exceeds or
equals to 85th but less than 95th percentiles, the adolescent is described as overweight and is at
risk of comorbid diseases related to obesity (Raj and Kumar, 2010). Research by the Australian
Institute of health and Welfare (2017) conducted in 2014-15 showed that 27 percent of teenagers
aged between 5-17 years were obese and overweight, with 20 percent being overweight and 7
percent being obese. Boys and girls had almost the same proportion of obesity and overweight.

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As per the research boys are more likely to be more overweight and obese at the age of 16 and 17
while girls are more obese and overweight between 8 and 11 years. it is important to know the
causes, risk factors, treatment and prevention measure for obesity among teenager. This health
promotion will not go to details but just an overview. According to Adler and Fetterman (2017)
claim that obesity and overweight is caused by the intake of more calories than energy use in the
body, leading to weight gain. Among the teenager, obesity could be caused by a combination of
factors. These could include socioeconomic factors, genes, diseases, some drugs, the body
metabolism, lifestyle, endocrine disorders and even lack of sleep.
Health Promotion prevention management perspective (primary, secondary or
tertiary)
There are three different levels of prevention. These include primary, secondary and
tertiary levels. The primary level prevention perspectives are also called upstream strategies as
they reduce occurrence and prevent poor health from occurring. The secondary level involves the
disease detection and taking curative measures before symptoms manifest. In tertiary level, an
individual is already infected. Therefore, this level aim at reducing the effect of the disease or
condition (Parker and Fleming, 2012). In this health promotion project we would major on both
primary and secondary management .This is because for us to attain an obesity free city, we have
to consider the already obese teenagers and those who at risk of being obese. For the already
obese ones we would explain to them strategies on how to handle their case such as frequent
exercise, reduce the amount of sugary beverages intake and also control the amount of first foods
they eat (Parker and Fleming, 2012). For the other teenagers, they would apply the same
strategies so as to keep away from obesity. However, these strategies need to be SMART. These
objectives have to be specific (explaining what has to be done), measurable (this involves ways

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of assessing the success of the project), achievable (this explains if the objectives could be
attained), relevant (this tells whether objectives are as per the requirements of the health
promotion project) and finally, the strategies have to be time oriented (Parker and Fleming,
2012). A time oriented objective means that it is bound by time and has end points.
With the increasing rate of obesity among the teenagers in both the developed and
developing nations, almost 70 percent of these teens become obese in their adulthood. This
would mean that these teenagers would live all their lives struggling with obesity related diseases
such as type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance (Kar, Dube and Kar, 2014). It
is therefore important that the teenagers are aware of this pandemic as early as possible so that
control and prevention measures are taken. Therefore this health promotion project aims at
making the teenagers understand obesity and see it at a broader perspective. It also aims at
coming up with ways to treat and control obesity at the early ages. This would prevent further
complication later in their adult lives. This would also help the adolescents realise what activities
they should refrain from and what activities would encourage health living. The adolescents
would be explained that obesity determinant among them are not different regardless of any
factor like being in well up country or a developing nation (The American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2017). Lack of physical activity and increased indoor
entertainment and leisure activities has contributed highly to increased obesity levels among the
youth. Most adolescents remain on the internet, viewing the television and on computer games
all time with no body activity, putting them at a high risk of obesity and overweight. However,
this could be contributed by insecure neighbourhoods (whereby the teenagers have to stay
indoors due to insecurity in the neighbourhood), unavailability of playgrounds and open space,
lack of emphasis on sports and increased academic stress from home and school on the

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adolescents to raise their grades. According to a research by Generation M2 (2014), the teenagers
spend on average 7.5 hours every day on the media. Television viewing has been linked with the
increased rates of obesity in the society among the teenagers, with other media indicating a
weaker association with obesity. Kar et al. (2014) think that reducing the teenagers’ sedentary
activities should be incorporated in clinical intervention for obesity treatment and prevention.
The teenagers have an unrestricted access to energy dense fast foods in their
environment. With little knowledge on dietary components, they take in too much calories per
body weight per day. When this activity of high intake of calories is continued for sometime,
then the teenager ends up being obese. Other activities like commuting to school by bus and
being helped in the daily household chores has contributed to obesity. Aggressive advertisements
by fast food companies predispose these adolescents to obesity. When given daily allowances ton
buy lunch, the teenagers end up buying fast food. It is therefore recommended that they cycle or
walk to school and also they carry healthy food from home or be served at school. Other factors
contributing to obesity among the adolescents overprotective parents, forced feeding, limited
knowledge on nutrition in carers and parents and traditional beliefs on nutrition and health.
Urbanization is also a factor contributing to obesity (Rosen et al.2014). There is limited open
fields and parks in the urban areas due to increased population and illegal settlements in the
abundance of fast food outlets hence the chances of becoming obese increase. Age and gender
are also thought to risk factors for obesity. During the post pubertal stage, one is more conscious
about their physical appearance and weight gain as compared to during the pre-pubertal stages.
Females who are more engaged with household activities than playground activities and also
those with strong sociocultural beliefs against sports tend to become obese at their early teenager
ages.

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This health promotion project will also help these affected by obesity in the society to
feel being part of the whole community and not being discriminated. This is because some
communities are biased towards the obese in the society. Despite some knowing the risk factors
for obesity, these bias are still widespread. Majdan (2012) claims that this bias has also been
reported in medical institutions, whereby the health care professions blame the obese. This
affects the therapeutic alliance and the teenagers start developing barriers to behavioral change
such self-criticism, hopelessness and low self-esteem (Puhl and Heuer, 2012). Other families
even shun from discussions on obesity due to these biases.
Obesity management
According to health care professionals, prevention is the best strategy in fighting against
the obesity pandemic in the current world. Prevention of obesity could mean primary prevention
of excess weight gain and obesity, avoiding weight gain after weight loss and preventing further
weight gain for already obese teenager who is unable to lose weight. In the past years, more
effort were focused on modification of diet, exercise and behavioural changes for the obese
teenagers but this has yielded little effectiveness towards fight against obesity (Qian, Liu, Wang
& Fan, 2019). Recent strategies on obesity now focus on the key behaviours that lead to
increased obesity rates in the society although there are other risk factor for obesity such as
genetics. The following factors could help prevent obesity among the teenagers. Maternal
factors- researchers suggest that it is important to record maternal weigh before conception and
the rate of eight gain during pregnancy. Qian et al. (2019) claim that breastfeeding has a
protective link against obesity. However the identified link is weak and may not sire much
results in fighting against obesity. Establishing healthy eating relationships in the family setting
is important. Families should be encouraged to have meals together. This could help parents

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monitor the type of food the teenagers and the rest of the family eat. The adolescents present
would be explained the importance of setting dietary goals. These dietary goals include limited
consumption of sugary drinks and beverages, eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, limit the
amount of food one eats and also reduce on fast foods (Qian et al. 2019). Reducing the number
of hours the teen stays on television and setting one or two hours a day for physical activity
would be very important in obesity prevention.
Stakeholders and community consultation
According to WHO (2012) stakeholders in the fight against teenagers obesity should
range from the top offices in the government to the least offices at the local community. This
would install a strong leadership that ensures that every stakeholder is working towards a
common objective and also coordination and sustained action would be ensured. The
government would be a key player in this project. It is the responsibility of the government to
ensure that her citizens are protected and prevented from any infection from the societal to the
community level. Incorporating the government in this project is important as they can provide
leadership, come up with regulatory policies, funding and advocacy. Non-governmental
organisations and the private sector could also be key stakeholders in this project. This would be
in relevance to the goals of these organizations like promotion of health, creation of fair and
equitable society and improving the living standards of the society. These organizations would
bring much knowledge on food health and physical activity. Organization such as the WHO and
UN bodies would play important roles like bringing a coordinated approach across international
agencies (Rutkow, Walters, O’Hara, Bleich and Smith, 2016).

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According to Danford, Schultz and Marvicsin (2014), parents must be involved in any
intervention steered at overweight and obesity prevention among the teenagers. This is because
parents are helpful maintaining a healthy diet for their children. Parents should be incorporated
here as the most influential figures in the family and the determinants of the children’s eating
habits. Bhamani (2013) argue that when parents have a diverse knowledge on nutrition they
would influence food selection and eating habits at home. Researchers and health care
professionals would play a part in this project (Daniels and Hassink, 2015). They provide advice
to the teenagers and their parents on food selection and the shortcomings of obesity. The project
would be a platform for the clinicians and researchers to use the parents as a target group in
prevention of obesity among the teens. The community and school are important in the project
too (Middleton, Henderson, and Evans, 2014). They would have an opportunity to understand the
importance of setting aside fields for the teens. The school will also see the importance of giving
these children time for activity and reduce on the academic pressure (Clarke et al. 2015).
Health message and promotion of the health activity
This health promotion project would be based of the motto “Teens, Fight Obesity!!1”
this motto would be like a unifying factor for the teenagers. Every teenager and other
stakeholders present would be issued with T-shirts with this motto printed on them. There would
be activities such as games and athletics. The teenagers would compete and the best would be
rewarded. Among these there would be bike riding, skating, leisure walks and all sorts of field
and non-field events. We would also set aside a tent where any teenager would know their
overweight and obesity status as well as ask questions. We would also buy food and let the
teenagers cook and then we all eat together to show out togetherness in the fight against obesity.

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Health promotion evaluation
Kaur, Prinja and Kumar (2015) claim that health promotion projects are difficult
especially when they involve behaviour change. To track our success in this project, we would
partner with the government, schools and community help groups. The government (both
national and local) will help in controlling the number of fast food outlets in the locality. They
would also help ensure students are served with the right diet at school. Schools will ensure that
students have time for physical activity. They will also ensure students are not pushed too much
in their academics and that they get the help they require. Self-help groups in the community will
remind parents the importance of healthy diets. The community will also set aside field and
playing ground for the youths. We would also partner in organizing activities and games at the
community level.\
Conclusion
Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity are the most rising disease epidemics in the
society today with obesity causing more serious public harm compared to the others. This
diseases affect both developing and the developed nations without any discrimination. They
affect people from all walks of life. According to research, 27 percent of teenagers aged between
5-17 years are obese and overweight, with 20 percent being overweight and 7 percent being
obese. Obesity among teenagers can be caused by a combination of factors including
socioeconomic factors, genes, diseases, some drugs, the body metabolism, lifestyle, endocrine
disorders, and even lack of sleep.
Health promotion plans can be designed to help the adolescents realize what activities
they should refrain from and what activities would encourage health living. According to health

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care professionals, prevention is the best strategy in fighting against the obesity pandemic in the
current world. It is also important for parents to engage in any form of intervention that can help
in the fight against obesity and weight gain. The fight is made easier when the government also
helps in the control of fast food outlets.

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References
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Alberga, A. S., Sigal, R. J., Goldfield, G., Prud'Homme, D., & Kenny, G. P. (2012). Overweight
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Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2017). A Picture of overweight and obesity in
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