Health Issue Identification and Assessment: Obesity - Paper Example

According to Harrington (2008), obesity is a national epidemic in America that has massive costs on health and productivity. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) (2005) reported that, one in every three children and a third of adults population are obese. The figures are prevalent in Hispanic communities, which is said to have reached a crisis. According to a report by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health in 2007, Hispanic communities are 1.1 times more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic whites. They are also reported to have the highest prevalence of obesity. The same report informs that heart disease is the leading cause of death among the Hispanics, and many of them are unaware that they are at risk (Harrington, 2008). Notably, cardiovascular disease together with high blood pressure and stroke are chronic diseases that result from obesity.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

A study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2005) reports that courses that are not subject to examinations, for instance, physical education (PE) are not prioritized in schools. This brings to the concern of the high obesity rates in children. The study confirms that only 27 states require PE in their tests. Moreover, CDC report indicates that 50% of Hispanic children are less likely to participate in active physical activities as compared to their other counterpart, a finding that is believed to contribute to obesity in their school-going children (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005).

In her article, Harrington (2008) observes that adolescents in Hispanic communities have the highest prevalence of obesity in America. Results from the CDC 2005 research show that Latino boys were the most overweight of all the ethnic groups, and the figure is believed to have doubled over the years. The article also observes that obese adolescents are socially marginalized, depressed and mostly suffer from low self-esteem issues, which according to Kornida et al. (2011) aggravates the situation. It is notable that social-economic factors indirectly affect a childs development and growth. Hispanic communities are mostly characterized by low incomes, a factor that could be blamed for the problem. Harrington (2008) asserts that economic insecurities can influence food choices as purchasing of energy-dense foods that are more affordable. To assess the prevalence of the obesity problem in Hispanic communities, Harrington (2008) has so far looked into education, social, and economic issues. However, it is paramount to note that efforts to reduce the problem go beyond the factors above mentioned. Environmental, contextual, biological and socio-cultural influences are of the essence.

Toolkit

Current and Ongoing Research on Obesity

Among the current and ongoing studies regarding obesity is the school-based obesity prevention program. Gonzalez (2016) in his study examines the effectiveness of the programs, with the help of experimental and quasi-experimental studies. This study was observed to produce weak evidence as it targeted Latino children between the ages of seven and ten. Another shortcoming was an inefficient literature review, and poor methodologies of the study used. Due to the challenges mentioned above, the conclusion made herein is not firm. It recommends a preventative intervention targeting Latino children below seven years of age, who are also suffering from obesity in high numbers. This research that was conducted in ten selected schools, including kindergartens, mainly faced by the attrition challenge due to transfer rates. The study recommended healthy nutrition and physical education policy in schools to have an impact on many Latino children. It asserts that, if the Hispanic children have no access to unhealthy snacks and non-nutritious meals, then they will not have the chance to consume them. Daily physical exercise would reduce chances of being overweight.

Another research conducted by Melnyk (2009) sought to determine the effect of obesity on heart disease in adulthood among Hispanic adolescents. Overweight Hispanic adolescents were estimated to be obese twenty years later; this was confirmed by the findings that indicated that obese Hispanic adolescents had many health complications in adulthood. It recommends that health workers must deliver sensitive interventions that would encourage healthy eating habits and activities with families. Policy on daily exercises in schools is re-emphasized.

Last on the list of recent and ongoing studies is the adolescent obesity that increases the risk of depressive and anxiety disorder. Mermin and Graff (2009) sought to establish if there is a correlation between Latino adolescents obesity and depressive, an anxiety disorder in a cohort, community-based study. The research confirmed that unlike the female adolescent's obesity, male obesity among Hispanics had no effect on depressive and anxiety disorder. Nevertheless, Mermin and Graff (2009) recommend a very thorough mental health component in the fight against obesity because the findings affirm the relationship between the variables mostly among obese females in Hispanic communities.

Current Screening and Early Detection Strategies

Body Mass Index (BMI) is the current measure of obesity and overweight. Harrington (2008) defines it as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. The study asserts that obesity and overweight are labels for the weight that ranges above what is considered as normal. According to CDC (2005), BMI for age and gender is used as a screening tool for adolescents and children to address weight concerns across the globe. CDC guidelines indicate that there lacks a term to classify obesity prevalent in Hispanics aged two to 20 years. Similarly, it explains that at risk for overweight represents the weight status category between 85% and 95%, while overweight represents weight status of greater than or equal to 95% (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005).

Current Prevention Strategies

Physical inactivity and poor choice of foods have been cited as the most dominant factors to obesity in this paper. Wright and Suro (2011), report that most Americans do not consume a proper diet with enough fruits and vegetable intake, while they consume a lot of saturated fat, which is unhealthy. Such a habit is known for causing coronary heart diseases, diabetes, and some cancers. For a healthy life, this paper advocates for physical activities and proper diet as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2005). In a bid to help Hispanic communities establish an active lifestyle, healthy eating habits and maintain this behavior throughout their way of life, three-tier intervention comprising health promotion, primary prevention, and secondary prevention is proposed Mama et al. (2009).

The community guide to preventative services recommends five populations based strategies for increasing physical activities among Hispanics. Mainly, it suggests community-wide campaigns using a variety of media, individually targeted programs tailored for a persons readiness for change and interest in an activity that would become a daily routine through behavioral training, rewarding them for any active development and, avoiding relapse. Another strategy is including physical education in Hispanic school that allows students more time to play, while increasing their activity level (Arancenta et al., 2009). Interventions that would first, facilitate accessibility of physical activities facilities and secondly, social support for physical in the Hispanic community where people would create and strengthen social networks that support their effort to do more exercises.

In fruits and vegetables intake strategy, Wright and Suro (2011) recommend consuming at least three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruits per day. To realize the breastfeeding strategies, social support resources for breastfeeding mothers, training health care personnel to teach the new parents, establishing maternity breastfeeding policies, and creating workplace policies that promote breastfeeding. Although studies indicate that a significant number of Hispanic communities are illiterate, this study recommends daily schedules that would keep them occupied and have less time for television watching. For instance, substitute that time with social networking and physical activities, and the preparation of healthier meals. Gonzalez (2016) also recommends that the schools and the parents monitor and budget for children television watching.

Current Policies and Landscape on Obesity

Although policy process involves the use of tools by the government to influence behavior by making people do what they might ordinarily not do (Smart, 2013), it also reflect public opinion. (Novak & Brownell, 2012) have observed that the government has been involved in health care issues affecting Hispanics both at the state and at local levels through licensing and regulation of practice, education, and program administration. The Constitution of the United States has a provision that may cause serious division on various issues. Federalism, however, gives each state the freedom to decentralize development regarding adapting to different environmental or unique Hispanic circumstances. The state government has little power if any over areas reserved for national government (Mermin & Graff, 2009)

Arancenta et al. (2009) state that the establishment, implementation of obesity prevention approaches in Hispanic communities requires the identification and comprehension of the determinant influences that can be affected by efficient large-scale action plans. Strategies aimed at the prevention of obesity in a Hispanic community ought to be multifaceted and designed to involve stakeholders, for example, the government and other concerned parties actively. Additionally, it is essential to consider multiple settings for implementation. Among the proposals to reduce this adverse situation among Hispanic communities is a legal framework by the government at the federal, state and local levels. Recent cost-efficiency analyses of obesity treatment and prevention approaches suggest that public health policy interventions to change unhealthy lifestyles are the fastest and most cost-effective ways to brining change in the Hispanic community (Novak & Brownell, 2012).

Health Policy Design

Smart (2013) asserts that it is paramount for healthcare providers to have adequate knowledge about the health policy process and know how to provide guidance in the changes that occur. A policy design plays a significant role in ensuring the success any health system. Particularly, the design phase of the policy process is the point at which the initial intent of a solution to a problem is understood and the necessary techniques are employed to attain policy success. The three most important stages of this health policy design are analyzing and identifying the problem, defining the goal of the policy, and conceptualizing and choosing specific strategies for attaining the policy goal.

Obesity in Hispanics living in America is the problem under study. Therefore, this health policy design aims at introducing healthy living among Hispanics to eliminate obesity and obesity-related illnesses. Smart (2013) suggests various strategies necessary for the implementation of a health policy design. The first relevant approach to the obesity issue is the use of capacity-building strategies that avail information, training, and resources to enable Hispanics in America to fight obesity. The second method is the use of incentive tools that assume consumers are utility maximizers. An example of an incentive technique is offering free aerobics lessons at government health facil...