Introduction
Obesity is a serious condition that undermines the health and wellbeing of the population. In the U.S. the disease affects 17% of children younger than 20 and almost 35% of adults (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2014). In addition, it has been found to influence the risk of death (Masters et al., 2013). Hospitals face a variety of patients every day, which enables healthcare providers to educate them on the dangers of obesity and influence the prevalence of this condition. Therefore, for the purposes of obesity prevention, the current study will focus on patient education as an initiative that can potentially decrease the incidence of this disease.
Setting
The hospital setting has been chosen as a place for intervention as healthcare workers in hospitals have the knowledge and capacity to influence patients’ attitudes towards nutrition, exercise, and other tactics of obesity prevention. Eisenberg and Burgess (2015) state that healthcare providers and hospitals may be excellent sources of knowledge on the topic and help patients to attain healthy eating habits among other things.
Issue Description
Obesity in children is most often attributed to poor dietary outcomes. Poti, Duffey, & Popkin (2013) suggest that unhealthy eating habits in the family are usually projected to children as a susceptible population. They note that this reason is one of the most significant predictors of obesity. Obesity in children can lead to poor health outcomes later in life such as joint issues, gastrointestinal diseases, adverse heart conditions, and several types of cancers (McElroy, Pivec, Issa, Harwin, & Mont, 2013). In adults, the causes and effects of obesity are quite similar. An unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, and a sedentary lifestyle are the major reasons for obesity. Dietz et al. (2015) suggest that many people suffering from obesity require guidance on the tactics of countering adverse side effects and causes of their condition. Therefore, the issue needs tackling with the help of professionals who possess such knowledge.
Impact and Significance of the Issue
Dietz et al. (2015) report that obesity leads to a variety of other serious diseases and death. Among the most serious issues associated with obesity are diabetes, liver disease, hypertension, a variety of psychological issues, depression, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and other adverse conditions. Given the exceptional prevalence of obesity, the population with all these diseases creates substantial pressure on the healthcare system. According to Specchia et al. (2014), obesity results in almost $40 billion in costs related to healthcare. That amount includes medication costs, economic costs from productivity loss, and other direct and indirect costs.
Solution
One of the best methods to cope with obesity is to decrease its incidence through prevention initiatives such as patient education (Ostovan, Zibaeenezhad, Keshmiri, & Shekarforoush, 2013). As it was mentioned above, healthcare providers can use their experience and authority to advocate for tactics and strategies to cope with symptoms or prevent their onset. As such, pediatricians could provide parents and their children with spoken or written advice on healthy eating habits or the positive effects of exercise.
Conclusion
All things considered, obesity in both children and adults is a serious issue that may be addressed, among other things, by educational intervention from healthcare providers. As such, they could teach patients about healthy nutrition or the benefits of exercising. That intervention should help decrease the incidence of obesity in the population.
References
Dietz, W. H., Baur, L. A., Hall, K., Puhl, R. M., Taveras, E. M., Uauy, R., & Kopelman, P. (2015). Management of obesity: Improvement of health-care training and systems for prevention and care. The Lancet, 385(9986), 2521-2533.
Eisenberg, D., & Burgess, J. (2015). Nutrition education in an era of global obesity and diabetes. Academic Medicine, 90(7), 854-860.
Masters, R. K., Reither, E. N., Powers, D. A., Yang, Y. C., Burger, A. E., & Link, B. G. (2013). The impact of obesity on US mortality levels: The importance of age and cohort factors in population estimates. American Journal of Public Health, 103(10), 1895-1901.
McElroy, M. J., Pivec, R., Issa, K., Harwin, S. F., & Mont, M. A. (2013). The effects of obesity and morbid obesity on outcomes in TKA. The Journal of Knee Surgery, 26(02), 083-088.
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.
Ostovan, M. A., Zibaeenezhad, M. J., Keshmiri, H., & Shekarforoush, S. (2013). The impact of education on weight loss in overweight and obese adults. International Cardiovascular Research Journal, 7(3), 79–82.
Poti, J. M., Duffey, K. J., & Popkin, B. M. (2013). The association of fast food consumption with poor dietary outcomes and obesity among children: Is it the fast food or the remainder of the diet? The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 99(1), 162-171.
Specchia, M. L., Veneziano, M. A., Cadeddu, C., Ferriero, A. M., Mancuso, A., Ianuale, C.,… Ricciardi, W. (2014). Economic impact of adult obesity on health systems: A systematic review. The European Journal of Public Health, 25(2), 255-262.