Obesity has become one of the major health issues in many countries. Health care providers have revealed that the menace of obesity is on the increase in the United States. For instance, the condition has been linked to cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and diabetes (Cominato et al., 2018). However, obesity develops gradually and can be dealt with at an early stage. Lifestyle habits are a significant factor that has led to many obese children and adults in America. The case presented involves a 16-year-old girl named Lorrie, showing that children are also at high risk of becoming overweight. Poor diet and lack of exercise are some of the lifestyle aspects that contribute to the issue among individuals. Deaths related to obesity have also been encountered, revealing that the condition is a major health issue in the United States.
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey defines obesity as the accumulation of excess fat in the body. Nutritionists have largely educated people about ways of avoiding the condition. For instance, healthy eating is one of the issues addressed to curb overweight in America. In most cases, people consume foods containing high cholesterol levels, leading to obesity (Cominato et al., 2018). Additionally, health care providers have encouraged people to exercise since it reduces the excessive amount of body fat.
Nurses have a significant role in the community since they provide health care services to people. Moreover, they educate people about various health issues to ensure that the community stays healthy. In this case, a nurse can inform the family about their health complications and improve their health. For instance, the parents can be encouraged to exercise and limit foods that contain large amounts of fats. The healthcare provider can also motivate the father to take medication and have regular checkups since he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Heart problems are primarily associated with increased blood clots and the buildup of fatty deposits inside the arteries. Therefore, Lorrie’s family should focus on overweight as one of the risk factors that may have led to the disease’s development. Social determinants can also be analyzed when focusing on Lorrie’s family. Poor working conditions have been termed as an aspect that can develop heart problems (Commodore-Mensah et al., 2018). In this case, the father is a driver, showing that he spends most of his time seated and can lead to fat accumulation in the body.
Many people in the modern world use automobiles even for short distances, increasing their chances of becoming obese. Thus, working as a driver is a factor that can increase the chances of having a cardiovascular disease. The mother also works for a sewing company, showing that she spends most of her time seated. Therefore, this can lead to the development of obesity. The socioeconomically disadvantaged groups have high exposure to cardiovascular diseases and obesity due to lack of adequate funds to go for medical checkups and focus on healthy eating (Koliaki et al., 2019). In this case, the family immigrated from Honduras, and they do not have health insurance. Therefore, lack of funds might be a factor that has steered these health complications in Lorrie’s family.
Behavioral change is necessary for health care as it helps patients improve their health. In this scenario, models can be used to promote the health of the family. For instance, one can encourage the family to focus on proper nutrition. The behavioral change model is used by many health care providers when treating obese people. The approach focuses on the lifestyle of people and its impacts on health. Consequently, the technique would be essential to ensure that the family adopts a healthy life. The approach is based on the belief that providing people with information can change their opinions, attitudes, and behaviors. Moreover, it promotes how people view procedures that people exercise to improve their health.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has provided health care providers with adequate data regarding various diseases. Moreover, CDC is part of the U.S. Public Health Service and has sufficient information used to analyze the trends of multiple conditions. The need for obesity program development and community interventions can also be evaluated using CDC data. For instance, the recent information reveals that the adult obesity rate stands at 42.4 percent while about 13.7 million children and adolescents are obese (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). Therefore, nurses can utilize the information to educate people about overweight and how they can limit obesity.
There is a necessity for planning a community nursing intervention such as screening and educating people about various diseases since it helps the public to learn about different health issues. To achieve this, I would collaborate with other health care providers and ensure that people are educated about various issues that can contribute to their healthy living. Moreover, teamwork is essential since it helps people to learn from one another. Funding is also another critical issue since some programs require the use of money. Hence, I would encourage organizations to support the project and other well-wishers in the community. Evaluating the community-level interventions would also be essential to determine whether the project is effective. Thus, I would encourage people to present their views regarding the programs and use the feedback to evaluate the community intervention. The results acquired during screening can also be used to assess the performance of the community-level interventions. Changes in peoples’ behavior can also be analyzed to determine whether the health educational programs were effective.
Social marketing has become one of the best ways to change people’s behaviors. Consequently, I would use the approach to change individuals’ health behaviors, beliefs, and social norms in the community. Moreover, increased technology has made it easy for people to share information. Thus, I can use social media platforms to create awareness about various issues such as obesity and overweight. I can also use PubMed, CDC, NCIB, and World Health Organization to show that people need to change their behaviors and improve their health.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Childhood obesity facts.
Cominato, L., Di Biagio, G. F., Lellis, D., Franco, R. R., Mancini, M. C., & de Melo, M. E. (2018). Obesity prevention: Strategies and challenges in Latin America. Current Obesity Reports, 7(2), 97-104.
Commodore-Mensah, Y., Selvin, E., Aboagye, J., Turkson-Ocran, R. A., Li, X., Himmelfarb, C. D., & Cooper, L. A. (2018). Hypertension, overweight/obesity, and diabetes among immigrants in the United States: An analysis of the 2010–2016 National Health Interview Survey. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 1-10.
Koliaki, C., Liatis, S., & Kokkinos, A. (2019). Obesity and cardiovascular disease: Revisiting an old relationship. Metabolism, (92)1, 98-107. Web.