Health Promotion Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Health Promotion Practice - Essay Example From the overweight children, 25% had been classed as obese and prone to chronic disease and disabilities. The likelihood of obesity having multiple predictors for illness is high. The escalation of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and a variety of other co-morbidities before or during early adulthood is expected to interfere with the normal life of the obese child. Sleep apnoea, arthritis and other disorders of bones, joint disorders and cancer have also been associated with obesity. Low self-esteem is another significant problem and may require appropriate psychological approach. A shorter life expectancy is inevitable in addition. The issue having become a global one, it is really urgent that measures are taken to prevent overweight and obesity. A collaborative effort on a war footing needs to be undertaken to find a rational solution. Where previously the issue was descriptive of children from wealthy families, recent discovery has been made that economy and geography have little t o do with the obesity. With all this in mind, I opted to join MEND, a program working for reversing the child obesity issue on an international basis. Epidemiology The problem is caused by a â€Å"mathematical† difference in the intake of energy as calories and expenditure of energy. Increased intake could be more than the needed requirement for the bodily functions. This could cause obesity. Similarly if the expenditure of energy in the form of exercise is not possible, an accumulation of fat again occurs in the body. This accumulating fat causes obesity and overweight. Either the intake has to be reduced or the expenditure increased to balance the calories being utilized in the body. The obesity is measured as the BMI or body mass index in the project. This is the ratio of the weight in kilograms to the square of the height in metres. Overweight and obesity have been defined as leading health indicators by the Healthy People 2010. This programme intended to reduce the child hood obesity incidence by 5% in the US. The significance of the issue in Wales Wales has had its fair share of the problem following the recession. The Welsh Health Survey had indicated that 3% in children under 16 were classified as obese. (Brindley, 2010). Wales held a high position in the childhood obesity league, with nearly one in five children being classed as obese. As a possible result of the recession, more families were looking or switching to cheaper foods which tended to be more processed and contained high levels of salt, fat and sugar (Brindley). The number of adults classed as overweight or obese had been increasing gradually over the last ten years. These results were from the annual survey. Health experts in Wales were raising concerns over children’s long-term health should obesity continue to rise unchecked (Brindley). The significance of the issue in Wales had motivated the government to plan strategies for containing the problem. For all of these reasons, the UK government set up the MEND program to decrease the incidence of these problems and protect the children’s health so that they live a healthy life. Furthermore, it was in the financial interest of the government to fund these health promotion programs as preventive work with childhood obesity was far cheaper in the long run. Dealing with the costs of health care of obesity-related health conditions could be expected to show shocking skyrocketing figures. Health promotion included activities which were