Overweight and Obesity Assignment Sample

• Subject Name : Nursing

Health Promotion

Overweight and obesity is found to affect the psychological and physical health of school children. Due to this complication, they face many complications such as improper school activities, sleep disorders, reduces self-confidence, and affected peer relationships (Cullen, Barnett, and Komesaroff et al. 2017). The health issues of overweight and obesity in the target audience- School-aged children 5-13 years. The cases of overweight and obesity are increasing at a high rate in rural Australia therefore, it is a health priority to conduct health promotion for it. The health message is – Good diet and care lead to good health and weight-balance.

According to the World health organization (2020), 38.9 million schoolchildren were obese in 2019; 340 million children from the age group of 5 to 16 years were overweight and obese in 2016; under the age group of 5 to 14 years, it was found that 24 % of the children were obese and overweight. The children from rural and remote areas are more affected by the health issue with a rate of 29 % than those children living in major cities (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2020).

In the health promotion program, there should be a conduction of sessions or awareness programs about the health issues and causes of the disease such as unhealthy food habits, poor physical activity, and poor lifestyle. The children should be targeted in school or public places about the associated complication of overweight and obesity like cardiovascular problems and ways to self-manage it (Blum 2020). The health promotion can be advocated by supporting the family members of the obsess child in his/her treatment by ensuring their consent, interests in care, and using professional practices to educate the affected children. 

The health promotion principles can be ensured by following two examples that are ensured in the health promotion: 1. conducting the health promotion program in schools, parks, localities, and other public places for more involvement of the participants, thereby ensuring involvement and participation. Action - The children should be educated about the health issues and taught about the ways to manage it and this should be evaluated every few weeks to observe the monitor the children’s behavior.

The second example that links health promotion to the primary health care principle includes the following: 2. Equity – If the program is conducted to target the rural and remote school children, with the involvement of their family members to ensure large-scale imparting of the information about the access offers or health services to the obese and overweight children. With the use of languages in which the children are more comfortable should be used. Moreover, in health literacy – the use of paper and print media with postures and brochures in simple language so that children are educated about the complications of obesity and the benefits of healthy lifestyles.

It should be ensured that there is the maintenance of principle 2 of the code of conduct for midwives, which states that there should be women-centered practice (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2017). Women are a very important part of the society or the family; therefore, it is required to ensure more participation of women in the program. It can be ensured by taking informed consent from them before the start of the health promotion session or program (Innstrand and Christensen 2020). The doubts and issues of the female child or women should listen with great concern and they should be supported in their decision-making as well, thereby ensuring advocacy.

The women of the family or the female school children should be informed about the health risks associated with the issue. The safety can be ensured by abiding the professional guidelines and policies during health promotion. This factor is ensured because it is found that the women in rural areas face many issues like less education, family care, child care, economic poor status, unemployment, and marital status (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2020). Due to these factors, they face high risks of overweight and obesity due to less and limited education or awareness about the health issue. 

The maintenance of principle 2 of the code of conduct for nurses, states that there should be a patient-centered approach for delivering care services to the (Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia 2017). While delivering the care or spreading information during health promotion it should be ensured that the patient’s views, ideas, and feelings are addressed well to ensure patient-centered care. During the promotion, the awareness should be spread that it is the right of the patient to refuse or accept the medication or treatment plans prepared to manage the overweight of the child or the school children. 

It is found that due to face many issues within the society due to their overweight such as being bullied by friends or family members for their obesity, this results in their emotional distress, anxiety, and stress-related issues. Therefore the nurse should ensure principle one of NMBA standards for evidence-based practices that ensured respectful care to the rural area patient, timely assessment, and documentation so that risks are prevented and professional care is delivered within an ethical framework. If there is a use of policies and guidelines in the delivery of health services then the quality of care and safety of the patient is always ensured (Garvey 2019).

The children should be encouraged to eat healthy food, do daily physical activities, drink 8 glasses of water per day and the social workers should be asked to promote the importance of whole-grain products for diet (Waters, Gibbs and Tadic et al. 2018). The reason the children are facing this health issue in rural areas is poor awareness about the high sugar and fat-containing food that impacts their health.

References for Overweight and Obesity

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2020. Australia's children. Retrieved from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/australias-children/contents/health/overweight-and-obesity

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2020. The health of Australia’s females. Retrieved from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/men-women/female-health/contents/lifestyle-risk-factors/overweight-and-obesity 

Blum, J. D. 2020. Equity and health care: The case of obesity. International Journal of Health Law and Government Policy, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 204-211. Retrieved from: http://jurnal.pancabudi.ac.id/index.php/healthlaw/article/view/753

Cullen, A. J., Barnett, A., Komesaroff, P. A., Brown, W., O'Brien, K. S., Hall, W., and Carter, A. (2017). A qualitative study of overweight and obese Australians' views of food addiction. Appetite, vol. 115, pp. 62-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.02.013

Garvey, W. T. (2019). Core principles, treatment standards, and provider competencies for the care of patients with obesity. Obesity, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 1045-1047. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22538

Innstrand, S. T., and Christensen, M. (2020). Healthy universities: The development and implementation of a holistic health promotion intervention programme especially adapted for staff working in the higher educational sector: The ARK study. Global Health Promotion, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 68-76. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1757975918786877

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. 2017. Midwife standards for practice. Retrieved from: https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/Midwife-standards-for-practice.aspx

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. 2017. Nurse practitioner standards for practice. Retrieved from: https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/nurse-practitioner-standards-of-practice.aspx

Waters, E., Gibbs, L., Tadic, M., Ukoumunne, O. C., Magarey, A., Okely, A. D., and Johnson, B. 2018. Cluster randomised trial of a school-community child health promotion and obesity prevention intervention: Findings from the evaluation of fun ‘n healthy. BMC Public Health, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 92. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4625-9

WHO. 2020. Obesity and overweight. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight

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