Abstract
Obesity is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. It is a condition associated with increased risk for various chronic disorders, such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disorders. According to data from Broward County, 25.4 percent of adults are obese. The adolescent obesity rate is 9 percent, which is significantly lower than the adult obesity rate, but only 24.7 percent of them engage in some form of physical activity, so they are at risk for developing obesity because of their lifestyle choices. Overall, sedentary lifestyle appears to have a significant role in determining obesity rates in Broward County. Appropriate interventions for reducing obesity rates by addressing short-term and long-term goals are discussed.
Keywords: obesity, Broward County
Obesity is a medical condition that occurs when the body fat accumulates to the extent of increasing the individual’s risk for adverse health events, such as reduced life expectancy, congestive heart failure, fatty liver disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and other medical conditions. Obesity is diagnosed in adults when their body mass index exceeds 30, and it is diagnosed in children and adolescents when their BMI is greater than the 95th percentile when examined using standardized growth charts.
In some cases, genetic predispositions and medical conditions can cause obesity, but those cases are rare when compared to the amount of cases in which sedentary lifestyle and excessive food intake are the causes of obesity (Bleich, Cutler, Murray, & Adams, 2007). Because most people do not lead physically active lives or make proper nutrition choices, obesity is considered a public health issue and suitable intervention strategies need to be implemented to reduce obesity rates. In the following sections, the obesity epidemic in Broward County and public interventions will be discussed.
Broward County Background
Broward County is located on the eastern side of the Florida Platform. Neighboring counties include Palm Beach County, Hendry County, Miami-Dade County, and Collier County. Broward County information is presented in the Appendix Table 1, which addresses the population estimate, demographics, geographic information, education levels, and the population’s socioeconomic status.
The Appendix Table 2 shows how the environmental influences promote healthy or unhealthy choices among the population, adult and adolescent obesity rates, and physical activity engagement for adults and adolescents. The adult obesity rate in Broward County is 25.4 percent, even though 65.7 percent of adults report meeting physical activity guidelines. Adolescent obesity rate is 9 percent, and only 24.7 percent of adolescents engage in physical activity while 60 percent of them do not attend physical activity classes. According to that data, it is possible to notice that sedentary lifestyle is a significant determinant of obesity rates in Broward County.
Nursing Diagnosis
Nursing Interventions
Planning
When planning community-based interventions, it is important to distinguish between primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies (Lundy & Janes, 2009). Tertiary prevention needs to address the short-term goals while primary and secondary prevention will address long-term goals.
Short-term Goals
Tertiary prevention needs to focus on rehabilitating patients who are already diagnosed with obesity. Addressing the needs of overweight patients should be implemented immediately because they are at risk for developing diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and other adverse health conditions. Those patients need to be offered education on healthy lifestyle choices and long-term support at local health centers.
Since adult obesity rates are higher than adolescent obesity rated, addressing workplace policies and environments is critical and should be addressed as soon as possible. A combination of nutrition and physical activity interventions in the workplace has proven to be the most effective method for reducing obesity rates significantly (Katz et al., 2005). For example, all workplaces in the community need to offer exercise breaks for employees, health risk assessments, and offer nutrition guidelines or tracking software to their employees.
Long-term Goals
Local health centers need to implement various measurements, such as blood cholesterol level measurements and blood pressure measurements, and make them accessible to identify individuals at risk for obesity. That will enable secondary prevention that will be aimed at individuals with risk factors for obesity, and they will be educated on nutrition choices and physical activity levels suitable for their condition.
In schools, two primary interventions need to be implemented. First, all schools need to make PE classes mandatory and increase the amount of physical activity in each class (Sobush et al., 2009). Second, all schools need to offer more opportunities for students who want to engage in extracurricular physical activity (Sobush et al., 2009).
Evaluation
Interventions that take place in workplaces will be measured by tracking the percentage of workplaces that have implemented policies that support healthy food and physical activity choices. Interventions that take place in school settings will be measured by the percentage of schools offering extracurricular physical activity and by the percentage of schools in which students are active at least 50 percent of the PE class duration (Sobush et al., 2009). The effectiveness of those interventions will be evaluated by investigating the impact of those measurements on the obesity rates among adults and children.
Community Resources
In 2005, the Broward Nutrition and Fitness Task Force (BNFTF) was established by the Broward County Health Department with the aim of reducing growing obesity rates. BNFTF aims to promote healthy eating choices in the community and promote regular physical activity (BNFTF, 2012). The Broward County population can obtain valuable resources from BNFTF, such as farmer’s markets locations, physical activity logs, and accurate information on best practices for reducing obesity.
Conclusion
Proper prevention methods need to take place in schools and workplaces because adolescents and adults spend the majority of their time in those settings. If their environment is not supportive and does not promote policies that affect healthy nutrition choices and offer adequate levels of physical activity, they will be at risk for obesity. The schools and workplaces need to adjust their policies to help adolescents and adults lead a physical active lifestyle, offer them better health education, and help them make healthier eating choices.
Appendix
Appendix Table 1. Broward County Information (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013).
Appendix Table 2. Broward County Eating and Physical Activity (CDC, 2011; U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2012).
References
Bleich, S., Cutler, D., Murray, C., & Adams, A. (2007). Why is the developed world obese? Annual Review of Public Health, 29, 273-295. doi: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.29.020907.090954
Broward Nutrition and Fitness Task Force. (2012). The Nutrition and Fitness Task Force of Broward County. Retrieved from http://browardnftf.webs.com/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). The obesity epidemic and Broward County, Florida students. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/pdf/obesity/ broward_obesity_combo.pdf
Katz, D. L., O'Connell, M., Yeh, M. C., Nawaz, H., Njike, V., Anderson, L. M., & Dietz, W. (2005). Public health strategies for preventing and controlling overweight and obesity in school and worksite settings. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 58(RR07), 1-12. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5410a1.htm
Lundy, K. S. & Janes, S. (2009). Community health nursing: Caring for the public's health. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Sobush, K., Keener, D., Goodman, K., Lowry, A., Kakietek, J., & Zaro, S. (2009). Recommended community strategies and measurements to prevent obesity in the United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 58(RR07), 1-26. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5807a1.htm
U.S. Census Bureau. (2013, June 27). State and county quickfacts: Broward County Florida. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/12011.html
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2012, December 11). Food environment atlas. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas.aspx#.UhSewT_pF-w
