University Public Health Administration and Leadership Report: Obesity

This report delves into the critical role of public health administration and leadership in addressing the pressing issue of obesity in the United States. It highlights the multifaceted nature of public health care delivery, emphasizing the need for collaborative leadership focused on disease prevention, policy development, and public education. The report identifies obesity as a significant public health challenge, citing its high prevalence among U.S. adults and the associated economic burden. It connects this issue to the Healthy People 2020 objectives, emphasizing the importance of behavior change and healthy eating. Furthermore, the report critiques the current state of public health leadership, noting a lack of effective communication, vision, and the need for healthcare leaders to develop coordinated programs. The author suggests that industry and community partnerships are essential for creating centers of excellence to combat obesity. The analysis is supported by several references, including Baum (2016), Brownson et al. (2017), and Ogden et al. (2015), and explores the implications of these issues for policy and leadership strategies.

1
Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP
Public health administration and leadership
Name of student:
Name of university:
Author note:

PUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP
Public health care delivery revolves around improvement and protection of
communities through disease prevention, policy development and education. Since public
health care delivery is multifaceted, it is crucial for leaders in public health to work in
collaboration and continuously appreciate the fact that there is crossover within the different
domains of public health (Baum, 2016). A public health leader is expected to demonstrate
excellent leadership skills in that they must be focused on bringing a positive change within a
short span of time. Leaders can successfully develop public policies that bring resolution to
key challenges of public health.
A key pressing public health issue is obesity, and it is a serious concern since more
than one-third of U.S. adults have obesity. The age-adjusted prevalence of obesity in the year
2013-2014 was 40.4% among women and 35% among men. On an average, $147 billion is
spent every year in added medical expenses for diabetes within the country. It is expected that
the number would go up to $1.24 billion until the year 2030. The country was marked to have
the highest rate of obesity in the OECD countries until 2013 (Ogden et al., 2015). Obesity in
the US, like many other developed countries, has drawn the attention of the concerned
authorities. There is an immediate need of intervening at an early stage for combating this
health condition. The factors that drive this increasing prevalence of the disease are to be well
understood for coming up with suitable interventional strategies. Thre is an evident crisis in
public health and has constantly been crying out for strong leadership (Ogden et al., 2014).
The chosen health issue of obesity relates to the Healthy People 2020 Priority Area of
‘Nutrition and Weight Status’. The goal is the promotion of heath through consumption of
healthy diets and achievement of healthy body weights. The objectives reflect the importance
of health benefits gained by healthy eating. The rationale behind this objective is that

PUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP
Americans are at high risk of being obese and overweight. Behaviour change is to be brought
about mong the public so that the ultimate results can be achieved (Koh et al., 2014).
At present, there is a lack of leadership exercised by the public health leaders, leading
to poor outcomes of the initiatives taken in this regard. The influence to drive a rapid change
is missing from their end. They are failing to communicate the vision they have, and
followers are not motivated to embrace the interventions being given out (Jebb, 2014).
Progress is emerging in relation to reducing the burden of obesity from the communities.
Healthcare leaders are left behind in developing programs that can ensure coordination and
collaboration. Leaders are to become health educators so that empowering and engaging
health education programs can come up. Heath support and coaching is imperative. Industry
and community partnership is to be held up so that health plans create centres of excellence.
Since leadership is facing a challenge to express itself at present, complete achievement of
the goals of reduction of obesity prevalence is still far behind (Issel & Wells, 2017).

PUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP
References
Baum, F. (2016). The new public health (No. Ed. 4). Oxford University Press.
Brownson, R. C., Baker, E. A., Deshpande, A. D., & Gillespie, K. N. (2017). Evidence-based
public health. Oxford University Press.
Cunningham, S. A., Kramer, M. R., & Narayan, K. V. (2014). Incidence of childhood obesity
in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(5), 403-411.
Flegal, K. M., Kruszon-Moran, D., Carroll, M. D., Fryar, C. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2016).
Trends in obesity among adults in the United States, 2005 to 2014. Jama, 315(21),
2284-2291.
Issel, L. M., & Wells, R. (2017). Health program planning and evaluation. Jones & Bartlett
Learning.
Jebb, S. A. (2014). Government Action to Tackle Obesity. In Controversies in Obesity (pp.
17-22). Springer London.
Koh, H. K., Blakey, C. R., & Roper, A. Y. (2014). Healthy People 2020: a report card on the
health of the nation. Jama, 311(24), 2475-2476.
Lovejoy, J. (2011). Five steps healthcare leaders can take to address childhood
obesity. American health & drug benefits, 4(1), 50.
May, A. L., Freedman, D., Sherry, B., & Blanck, H. M. (2013). Obesity—United States,
1999–2010. MMWR Surveill Summ, 62(Suppl 3), 120-128.
Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Fryar, C. D., & Flegal, K. M. (2015). Prevalence of obesity
among adults and youth: United States, 2011-2014 (pp. 1-8). US Department of

PUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP
Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National
Center for Health Statistics.
Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., & Flegal, K. M. (2014). Prevalence of childhood and
adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012. Jama, 311(8), 806-814.