Evidence-Based Practice Essay

Evidence-Based Practice Essay

Evidence-Based Practice

Introduction

In the United States, Obesity is considered to cause 100,000–400,000 deaths annually. The disorder also caused a tremendous increase in health care expenditures that costs the society an estimated $117 billion (Lim & Harris, 2015). The escalating costs emanate from both direct and indirect costs that relate to treatment, preventive, and diagnostic services.  The cost exceeds the costs related to health-care expenditures associated to smoking and accounts for 7%-11% of national care costs in the United States (Lim & Harris, 2015). This paper aims to compare statistics for the primary health concern, describe the epidemiological concepts, data analysis methods, tools, and databases used, and explain the factors that affect health promotion and disease prevention. The paper will also describe the types of health care initiatives tried by other organizations and conclude by providing one health care initiative recommendation for obese and overweight population.

Statistical Comparison for a health concern of a vulnerable or diverse population to the statistics for the general population.

For the last one decade, the United State has had a childhood obesity problem with New York City leading in prevalence rates. The Department of Health estimates that every four below the age of 18 is obese and 25% of the entire population comprise those under the age of 18 years old (Ogden et al., 2014). According to a report released in 2015 regarding the state of obesity in the USA, New York’s adult obesity rate is currently 25.0%, an increase from 17.1 % in 2000 and 9.3 % in 1990 (Lim & Harris, 2015). Compared to other states, adult obesity rates are above 20% in all states, more than 35% in four states, and exceed 30% in 25 states (Lim & Harris, 2015).  In addition, Louisiana has the highest obesity rate of 36.2%, while Colorado has the lowest rate of 20.2% (Lim & Harris, 2015). In the years 2014 and 2015, U.S. had a decline in overweight and obesity rates in four states (Ohio, Montana, Minnesota, and New York), whereas an increase was recorded in two states that include Kentucky and Kansas (Lim & Harris, 2015).

Research show that obesity starts at early stages of life: nearly 50% of all Head Start and elementary school children are not healthy (Lim & Harris, 2015). In New York, one in five kindergarten children, and one in four Head Start students is obese (Lim & Harris, 2015). In addition, 39% of obesity in adults are caused by poor dietary behaviors, 44% is due to lack of physical activities while the rest are caused by genetic factors (Bleich et al., 2013).

 The tremendous increase in obesity prevalence rates calls for intervention by the federal government. Therefore, the state has made tremendous efforts in the fight against obesity and overweight hence assisting nutritionists to curb the problem. Hospitals’ public awareness may be imperative to educate the vulnerable population on the potential risks that emanate from unhealthy nutrition and lifestyle. The hospital plans need to provide useful information regarding the resources for affordable and accessible healthy food and the risks of high-calorie products

Epidemiological Concepts of Data Collection and Distribution

Obesity is an epidemic that has received significant attention throughout human history, and it is considered a major health hazard. The disorder is also an epidemiologic challenge facing healthcare providers, where the allocation of resources to curb the disease and the associated comorbidities expected to be more than $150 billion in the U.S (Wang et al. 2013). With this regard, the past research has focused on addressing the major epidemiological features of obesity that include risk factors, secular trends, global prevalence, and burden and societal impact of the disorder.

The databases used in research studies apply quantitative methods of data analysis. They involve the use of measurements, mathematical, statistical and numerical data obtained through surveys, questionnaires, polls, or manipulating pre-existing statistics by using computational techniques (Ogden et al., 2014). The data analysis results in obesity and overweight prevalence help the local and federal officials to evaluate, target, develop, and fund programs and policies to curb the disorder.

The data-driven systematic study shows that the distribution patterns of obesity in New York City depends on the risk factors that the population is exposed. Due to high urbanization, Manhattan has the highest prevalence rate. This is because people are exposed to fewer natural environments where the body can be exposed to physical activities like walking, cycling, climbing stairs, etc. The island is surrounded by water and most of the times; people have to use mechanized transport to move around in addition to consuming a lot of processed food with high sugar and fat content.

Factors that Affect Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

Obesity and overweight present a range of weight-related problems that are riskier than what is usually considered healthy for a particular weight. People with excess weight are recognized to have some issues that increase the possibilities acquisition of certain diseases and other health problems. Various factors affect health promotion efforts and disease prevention including legal, economic, behavioral, ethical, and cultural factors. Although access to health care services may not be a major challenge in Manhattan, these problems increase the health risks obese individuals may face.

Disability

Disabled people may find it difficult to undertake healthy eating, manage their weight, or perform physical activities. When overweight and obesity is related to disability, the situation becomes a major issue for consideration by the public health. Research by Ogden, Carroll, Kit and Flegal (2014), show that frequent physical activities provide significant health benefits because it helps improve cardiovascular and muscle fitness, mental health and increase the capacity to perform daily activities (Ogden et al., 2014). As a result, the presence of more people with disability in a population that has a high prevalence rate in obesity may increase the level of health needs to reduce the health risk factors and other related ailments.

Language Barriers and Differing Cultural Values

This is a major issue that affects effective communication between health professionals and the general population. It would not be easy to conduct health promotion efforts in a diverse community without translating the message which would be distorted to some extent (Bleich et al., 2013). This is because Manhattan is a metropolitan region that is occupied by people from a different language, ethnic, religion, profession, and cultural values. Therefore, different people have different views on overweight based on their beliefs and would be hesitant to control their weight resulting in increasing in the general weight of the population.

Generational Differences and Social Factors

Generation gaps serve as a huge obstacle to social programs because each generation subscribes to a different opinion in regards to politics, beliefs, and values. As the health department in New York continues to focus on client-centered quality in care delivery, the practitioners must have a clear understanding of the needs, concerns, and attitudes of the population (Wang et al., 2013). The people’s perception is affected by their social, cultural, and personal factors which may support or hinder effective body-weight management programs and eventual success in dealing with obesity. Evidence-Based Practice Essay

Health Care Initiatives Used by Organizations to Address the Health Care Concerns

Some of the effective healthcare initiatives introduced to address the increasing rates of obesity and overweight include discouraging health disparities based on access to quality care, socioeconomic status, eating behavior, and lifestyle. The practices encourage equity in resource sharing and promote determinants of health. The organization also supports nutritional and public awareness programs to foster access to quality healthcare services, public safety, availability of healthy food, availability of community-based resources, and social support,

In 2012, the CDC center established that there were over one million youths in larger New York City who suffered from obesity (Ogden et al., 2014). The childhood obesity crisis, in turn, fueled the high cost of health care with an estimated $240 million attributed to children with overweight risks (Ogden et al., 2014). In addition, children aged below six months were also established to be at risk of developing obesity with the problem reaching an epidemic proportion since the obesity prevalence had tripled in two decades (Ogden et al., 2014).  The causes are related to poor eating habits, availability of processed foods with high sugar and fat contents and technological advancement that has made it easy for children to avoid physical exercises. Therefore, under the recommendations of CDC and other healthcare research departments, several measures have been put in place to minimize the occurrence rates of obesity among the youths.

Children enrolled in schools are required to eat nutritional food and engage in physical activities. Schools that participate in the school feeding program are required to meet the federal nutritional guidelines as provided by the Department of Health Services. For example, not exceeding 30% of calories in fat that has less than 10% of saturated fats (Summerbell et al., 2012). In addition, school lunches should only provide a third, breakfasts, a quarter of the prescribed dietary allowances of vitamins A and C, proteins, calcium, iron, and calories. The state department of education of New York also banned vending machines against dispensing candy and soda before the end of lunch period. These techniques are effective to reduce the rate of obesity and overweight in early stages.

Recommendation of A Health Care Initiative for Reducing Obesity

The most effective initiative for reducing the overweight problem in Manhattan is through creating awareness to the population to decrease the prevalence of obesity and overweight, and reduce the burden of related diseases, through improving healthy eating and engaging in physical activities (Summerbell et al., 2012). The department of health should increase the perception that being overweight poses significant health risks to a wide range of stakeholders including the community, healthcare administration and the nation at large. 

There is a need to expand the proportion of people who know about the health risks that are associated with obesity like hypertension, resistance to insulin, dyslipidemia and diseases like diabetes, cancer, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and overweight disability. This knowledge would help the society in relating overweight problems with the economic impacts associated with obesity and challenges such as increased healthcare cost, low productivity, and increased insurance.  The program should also involve routine monitoring, tracking and informing of patients and parents about their weight progress followed by professional support.

Conclusion

This paper reveals that there are significant statistical data to determine that New York has a high prevalence rate of overweight and obesity. The interventions applied in dealing with the problem of obesity in Manhattan has not been sufficient to control and reduce the risks involved amongst the population. The effectiveness of the programs has been affected by several challenges like the presence of disabilities among the obese youths, differing cultures and language barriers, and social factors. This impact of these issues can be observed from the ineffectiveness of the health initiatives put in place by the department of health. However, a lasting solution can only be realized through increased sensitization on the social, economic and financial consequences of overweight among the population.

Evidence-Based Practice Essay