Health Promotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health Promotion - Essay Example Obesity contributes to 2.6 million fatalities globally every year. During 1999 to 2002, 65.1 percent of adults, at least 20 years of age, were considered overweight and 30.4 percent were considered obese. Among children between 6-19 years old, 31.0 percent were regarded as overweight and 16.0 percent were deemed obese (Hedley, Ogden, Johnson, Carroll, Curtin & Flegal, 2004). Obesity significantly decreases life expectancy thus increasing the risk for morbidity and mortality. Also, it considerably increased health care costs in the last two decades (Wang & Dietz, 2002). As stated by Ward-Smith (2010), the U.S economy’s expenditure reached an estimated $117 billion and $61 billion were directed at medical costs. This increased occurrence of obesity is said to be due to urbanization which caused societal changes like frequent consumption of fast-food meals, feasting on oversized portions at home and in restaurants, ingestion of high-calorie foods, like high-fat, low-fiber foods, and increase intake of sweetened beverages (Raj & Kumar, 2010) . Also, developing countries have exponentially grown a habit of television viewing and other sedentary activities (Robinson, 1999). Automobile-oriented and automated environment also promoted a low level of physical activity (Epstein & Saelens, 2000). Aims and Objectives The immediate aim is to lower the rate of weight gain which will be done by maintaining a specified weight appropriate for the age and height of the individual, therefore improving the person’s BMI. The objective is to develop a better quality of life for the people involved. Another objective is to reduce the morbidity and mortality rate involving associated with obesity. Global scope of this project is another objective; if possible, legislative change should be done to fully achieve this goal. Outline of Project and Ethical Considerations The target group of this report is the obese people in the university. The booklet (Appendix A) and leafle ts (Appendix B) used are from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Obesity Action Coalition. The author believes that for change to fully be achieved in a global setting, change has to start first in the immediate surrounding. However, if possible, this may be applied to any obese person to completely achieve the globalization of this initiative. The initial action should be to educate the people about obesity, its causes, the risk of being obese and most importantly how to handle it. What is obesity? Obesity is a disease that it described by having excess body fat. An indicator for this is the Body Mass Index (BMI). This is measured by dividing the person’s weight in kilograms with the height in meters squared. This can also be seen in the BMI Chart (Appendix C). A person with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is classified as overweight. A BMI of 30 above is considered obese. What causes this? 1. Behavior 2. Environment 3. Genetics What is the health risks related to obes ity? 1. Diabetes 2. Gallbladder disease 3. Cardiovascular diseases like Stroke, Coronary Heart Disease, Hypertension, etc. 4. Cancers like colon, breast and endometrial cancer 5. Osteoarthritis 6. Respiratory problems like sleep apnea, breathlessness, etc. How to handle obesity? 1. Behavior modification 2. Physical activity 3. Pharmacologic 4. Surgery for the morbidly