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Essay on Population Health

Explore and discuss how human consumption, standards of living, and personal health practices influence the health in a defined population with the selected disease (i.e. obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc).

Obesity is a significant public health concern, and many healthcare organizations are working to discover practical solutions. Just as a person’s living arrangements substantially influence their health, so does the environment around their dwellings. Other studies have also shown that environmental variables have substantially impacted the growth in childhood and adult obesity over the previous three decades (World Health Organization, 2020). To better understand the environmental influence on obesity, many variables such as physical activity, bad eating habits, and environmental factors that lead to unhealthy living circumstances must be included. Furthermore, some scientists believe that parents are the gatekeepers for juvenile obesity since they manage and supervise what they purchase, what their children eat, and how much physical exercise they receive each day.

Furthermore, societal variables such as the socioeconomic status of a community play an essential role in developing obesity. For starters, scientists feel that children’s health is affected when they grow up in locations where full-service grocery shops such as Walmart, Kroger, and Myers are unavailable (Hall, 2018). Furthermore, individuals’ lack of access to supermarkets and food shops exacerbates the obesity problem. In addition, the absence of such services influence’s lifestyle since the lack of significant supermarkets restricts personal eating alternatives. Domestic workers who do not have access to these social facilities must drive significant distances (Chooi, Ding & Magkos, 2019). Furthermore, due to the high cost of transportation, parents choose to purchase at fast-food restaurants, restricted restaurants, and grocery shops, which adds to the growth in kid obesity in the United States.

Children from low-income households are also more likely to be physically inactive (PA) (PA). Furthermore, the lack of physical exercise in this situation is aggravated by the frequency of safety concerns (Hall, 2018). While it is crucial to build solid interactions between children and their primary caregivers, most low-income communities no longer have access to outdoor play. Furthermore, according to a Department of Justice assessment, most young people in low-income communities are victims of an estimated 6 million violent crimes each year (WHO, 2020). In addition, parents and guardians should enable their children to play in their backyards or public locations to reduce childhood obesity. However, because of the high frequency of crime in the neighborhood, most parents choose to expose their children to drugs and environmental violence via watching television.

Furthermore, due to society’s high crime rate, physical activities such as horseback riding and walking are prohibited, increasing obesity. On the other hand, security worries are typically absent in civilizations with a higher socioeconomic position. Furthermore, exercising is regarded as natural in such an atmosphere, as indicated by the low obesity incidence in the region. Again, the environment’s high degree of security enables community members to mingle, building interpersonal bonds in the process freely. Furthermore, cities with more virtual gaming enterprises encourage citizens to remain sedentary. Obesity is on the increase among blacks and Hispanics, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods, due to exposure to the prevalence of fast-food businesses in low-income regions (Malacarne et al., 2022). Residents in better socioeconomic zones, on the other hand, have the pleasure of dining at more nutritional places.

Identify the chronic condition, its impact on the targeted population, and the various factors (behavioral, environmental, and genetic) that create change and/or demise within the population.

When a person eats more calories than their body can burn, the extra calories are deposited as fat. A person with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater than expected is likewise obese. Obesity affects individuals of all ages and races and those from all socioeconomic situations in rural America. Obesity is no longer a concern for the poor and middle classes in third-world nations. It is common among the world’s wealthiest populations. It has become an international problem that affects both the affluent and the poor. According to the post, recent research released by the Harvard School of Public Health indicated that more than 500 million individuals globally are obese (Hall, 2018). This growth affects around 10 percent of men and 14 percent of women, resulting in an almost two-fold increase in obesity rates in the United States since 1980.

Many demographic groups, including Caucasians, African-Americans, Latinos, Indians, Asians, and Pacific Islanders, have been impacted. Obesity is more frequent among black, Latino, and older Mexican Americans in North America than among white non-Hispanics in the same area. According to one research, non-Hispanic black women in the United States, had the highest obesity rates, with rates of almost 59 percent when compared to other ethnic groups (WHO, 2020). If present trends continue, over half of all males and half of all women in the United States will be overweight by 2030. Obesity and other non-communicable illnesses connected with obesity, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, take the lives of around 300,000 individuals in the United States each year. Obesity is complex, with genetics, nutrition, and physical activity all having a part.

Genetics

Obesity is caused mainly by genetics, which also plays a role in illness. Genes govern the human body’s reaction to environmental changes. Many studies have identified a substantial correlation between obesity and heredity. According to research, changes in numerous genes may be responsible for obesity by boosting hunger and eating (WHO, 2020). Circumstantial scientific evidence implies that genetic factors are responsible for the bulk of adult weight inequalities, according to the same research results. “Most obesity, on the other hand, is most likely caused by complicated interactions between a variety of genes and environmental variables that are currently poorly understood.”

Behavioral

Individual lifestyle decisions such as smoking, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and alcohol use are the leading causes of obesity and obesity-related disorders such as diabetes. Lifestyle behaviors occur in the context of a person’s everyday activities, such as: going to work Many individuals who live in this manner feel that their behaviors have no direct influence on their health and are thus unconcerned about the long-term implications (Chooi, Ding & Magkos, 2019). On the other hand, some individuals entirely dismiss the detrimental relationship between lousy eating habits and non-communicable. Consequently, individuals are consuming less fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and more processed foods.

Obesity data are becoming increasingly frequent in the news, the CDC website, and other health-related websites. Rawal’s lifestyle and eating habits have certainly substantially influenced this startling number of fatalities. Many individuals are indifferent about whether their meal is healthful. They consume unhealthy food from fast-food restaurants or roadside stalls without considering the implications. Foods heavy in refined carbohydrates, saturated fat, fatty acids, sugar, and salt dominate their diet, leading to a range of health concerns.

Fast food has become a tradition among teens and young people who consume it daily in today’s fast-paced environment (Blüher, 2019). They prefer pizza, burgers, spaghetti, sandwiches, and other foods low in many critical elements such as vitamins and minerals that the human body needs for optimal health. Furthermore, this eating habit might lead to concerns like constipation and other persistent digestive disorders. When individuals are offered their favorite meals, they usually overindulge and get overwhelmed. Furthermore, these individuals may overeat if they are provided extra food on their plate while striving to postpone eating it. These folks must be taught the need for portion management.

Environmental

Environmental variables strongly impact factors in the Environment, Obesity, and other obesity-related disorders. Children and adults have become easy victims of the food industry’s various false marketing strategies (Chooi, Ding & Magkos, 2019). The pandemic has disproportionately afflicted persons from low-income families. However, it has also harmed people from wealthy and privileged backgrounds. All food, beverage, and restaurant industries profess to encourage healthy eating, yet their actions reveal otherwise. “Scientists think that junk food is a key factor to high rates of diabetes, high blood pressure, and even stroke,” according to an article published by the Preventive Institute Group. Several foods and beverage corporations spend billions of dollars to limit the number of dangerous items they offer on the market every year. The food and beverage industry spent more than $40 billion lobbying Congress in 2010 to oppose proposals such as those that would curb junk food advertising and a future tax on fizzy drinks (Hall, 2018). In 2010, companies spent more than $40 billion lobbying Congress.

Change, on the other hand, has not happened. Fake media marketing is exposed to many youngsters and adults every day. It’s rare to locate a single TV station or piece of digital media that isn’t riddled with false advertising. Their engaging advertising and films attract individuals of all ages, including children and adults, who want to test their goods. They appeal to many individuals because of their sweetness or “foreign” taste, appealing to their sense of adventure. People eat more in locations where there is a lot of food advertising than in regions with little or no food advertising. If present trends continue, one in every three persons in the United States will have diabetes or some associated condition by 2050 (WHO, 2020). In the not-too-distant future, healthcare expenses connected with poor nutrition and lack of exercise will more than quadruple.

Discuss the influence of food production, water use, climate change, population growth and energy resources on community health. Specific emphasis should be placed on how the environment deteriorates and/or enhance the health of the population with the disease.

Food Production

The food business spends billions of dollars each year on new goods and packaging and advertising and marketing methods to urge consumers to purchase more food. “More food sold implies more money for the industry. When we pause to think about it, we are continually pressured to purchase items we don’t need, even food. Using research-based advertising methods like McDonald’s and Burger King’s, giant firms such as Coca-Cola and General Mills make millions of dollars in sales each year. While McDonald’s has been accused of attracting young people with its famed play areas and cheerful cuisine, no one ever mentions the 3 billion bags of potato chips sold in the US each year (WHO, 2020). “You can’t eat just one,” Frito Lay’s advertising tagline, seems to be a self-fulfilling prophesy, as shown by the fact that individuals can’t stop at just one chip.

Other food producers adopt a similar tactic, promising pleasure while using happy words that will warm your grandmother’s heart. The Blue Bell ice cream business promises that its staff “consume as much as they can and then sell the remainder,” while Little Debbie claims that opening one of her cakes would “open her grin.” Consequently, less time is given to promoting foods that are helpful to our health. A researcher states that fruit and vegetable advertising is essentially non-existent (Malacarne et al., 2022). The truth of the remark was validated by research released in March 2007 by the Henry J. Family Foundation. According to the conclusions of this research, most food commercials that children and teens view on television are things that nutritionists and government agencies suggest being taken in moderation, seldom, or in tiny quantities, until they are absorbed.

According to the survey, 8,854 food commercials aimed at children and adolescents did not contain fruit and vegetable advertisements. Is it a coincidence that the CDC estimates that roughly 18 percent of teens are obese? Obesity has various causes, including overeating, bad dietary habits, genetic susceptibility, and a lack of exercise, but it is a systemic issue beyond individual behavior (Hall, 2018). Instead of concentrating on fast food, we should analyze the whole wholesale economy. By limiting the availability of high-sugar or high-fat meals, boosting the availability of healthy choices, enhancing the openness of food information, and eliminating incorrect or misleading advertising, the food business may significantly contribute to reducing obesity.

Perhaps because of this, we will be able to take steps toward becoming a healthy nation (Chooi, Ding & Magkos, 2019). The data suggest that population density is positively connected to the probability of a sedentary lifestyle (i.e., having more private motor cars and less physical activity), in contrast to those in developed nations’ lives. Cultural variations in the rural-urban divide and housing circumstances may explain the vast discrepancies between China and Western nations.

Population Growth

The dense population makes it difficult for middle-aged and elderly individuals to migrate to China, making public transit (such as buses) and walking unpleasant. Consequently, they are more likely to buy a vehicle and participate in less physical activity, such as traveling. Walk more than individuals who reside in less densely populated parts of the nation. More significantly, middle-aged, and older individuals typically despise working out in the gym and may need physical exercise outside and community sports facilities (Blüher, 2019). Furthermore, living in a busy region makes this less probable, and it may contribute to elderly individuals remaining home rather than exercising outdoors.

Climate Change

Rising global temperatures may lead to increased inactivity and a decline in the capacity to burn fat, increasing the risk of becoming overweight or obese. As overweight and obese individuals depend on fossil-fuel-powered means of transportation, such as vehicles, rather than physically active modes of transportation, such as walking or cycling, to move about town, this might result in higher greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change.

References

Blüher, M. (2019). Obesity: global epidemiology and pathogenesis. Nature Reviews Endocrinology15(5), 288-298.

Chooi, Y. C., Ding, C., & Magkos, F. (2019). The epidemiology of obesity. Metabolism92, 6-10.

Hall, K. D. (2018). Did the food environment cause the obesity epidemic?. Obesity26(1), 11-13.

Malacarne, D., Handakas, E., Robinson, O., Pineda, E., Saez, M., Chatzi, L., & Fecht, D. (2022). The built environment as determinant of childhood obesity: A systematic literature review. Obesity Reviews23, e13385.

World Health Organization. (2020). Overweight and obesity.

 

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