Preventing Obesity: The Ottawa Health Charter And Action Plans Essay.

Explain how the nurses’ role and the concepts of Health Literacy, Health Education and Health Promotion relate to empowerment of your target population.

Using the Health Promotion program YOU are developing for the Expo Assessment, demonstrate your understanding of how the key Ottawa Charter actions apply in regards to YOUR target population or community. 

Obesity is a medical condition which occurs when an individual carries excess body weight or body fat that might affect his or her health. Body mass index is usually used by physicians to determine whether a person has obesity. The body mass index tells whether an individual has appropriate weight to their height, age and sex. An obese person has higher risks of developing other health complications such as arthritis, cancer and metabolic syndrome which encompasses high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Maintaining a healthy weight is therefore essential in preventing obesity. Identifying if an individual is obese requires the medical practitioners to use body mass index where weight is related to height. The Ottawa health charter of 1986 came with significant action plans which any nation that is in pursuit of a healthy population should put into considerations.

The Ottawa health charter of 1986 has been a major milestone in the promotion of health literacy, empowerment and education (Sharma, Goodwin, & Causgrove, 2018). Health promotion, a process of enabling people to increase control over and improve their health has outlined fundamental requirements for good health as; food, education, income, sustainable resources, social equality and justice, shelter, peace and a stable ecosystem. It has also achieved its objectives through educating individuals on the importance of their health, bringing equality in the health sector for all individuals to access health services and bringing mediation between all concerned individuals. The following action plans according to the charter can be followed to prevent obesity

Self-discipline and preparation should be inculcated through learning (Plunkett, 2019) This will help individuals who are at the risk of getting obesity to regulate their eating habits, exercise and resting periods. For instance a person at risk will be able to reduce food intake, increase amount of exercise an aspect that will lead to prevention of obesity. Those with children who are at risk too will be able to feed them appropriately and show them the way to reduce the risk. Caregivers and teachers should also be given appropriate guidelines on how to deal with school going children to avoid any possible risks that might arise while in school. According to Timnea, Larisa,Timnea, Potop, & Jurat, (2018),  extracurricular activities should be initiated in schools to prevent too much rest. Preparation to cope with obesity for those who might have been unable to prevent should also begin with an individual and should be facilitated at home, school and community setting. 

The Role of Body Mass Index in Identifying Obesity

Create a supportive environment

Individuals living with obesity always face it rough since a majority of individual turns them to a laughing stock.  Others even get mocked as heavy feeders, fatty etc an aspect that makes them develop low self esteem and some of them end up becoming suicidal.  To prevent this, a supportive environment should be created by making the community accept them the way they are without necessarily making fun of them (Yujin & Soontae, 2018). Some activities can also be organized in the community level to assist these individuals to burn the excess calories in their bodies. Some of these activities are evening running races, community clean up, gymnastics and some ball games. When this is initiated in the environment around obese people, then it will be easy for them to lose weight and gain normal life as the rest.

The health sector over the years has only been sitting down waitng to treat and provide healthcare services to the sick. This means that no single steps have been made to help the people to prevent the ailments which when told they will be in a position to practice safety measures against them. The health sector should therefore come with initiative such as open workshops where people with and without obesity are allowed to attend and then the major topics to be taught should revolve around prevention of obesity (Jopkiewicz & Nowak, 2018). Obese people can also be invited for an open day where they should be highlighted on the importance of exercise, controlled diet and medication with an aim of helping them to conquer the condition more easily. Hospitals and other health facilities should also come up with a weight loss and weight gain control sector where a qualified trainer can help obese people to lose weight and those who are possibly accumulating a lot of calories can join in too to prevent the condition. 

The community can participate in the prevention of obesity. This can be possible through empowering community health workers to be able to identify signs of obesity and advise the person appropriately on the preventive measures voluntarily. As connoted by Alkan, Altunkaynak, Altun, & Erener, (2019), community health workers can also be trained to administer specialized preventive measures against obesity rather than waiting until it is too late to treat. The workers can also be authorized to conduct workshops and seminars to raise the level of health awareness amongst its people. They can also be allowed to undertake the first assessment procedures in order to refer individuals appropriately based on the level of their obese condition. When these community health workers become accountable, then it will turn out to be very easy to prevent obesity amongst members of the community.

The Ottawa Health Charter of 1986

Health promotion policy needs a combination of diverse and complimentary approaches. To eradicate obesity amongst individuals who are at a higher risk (Willweber, & Cillík, 2018). The government should come up with health policies aimed at ensuring workers in the government sector, those in the private sector, those who are not working and even children are provided with insurance cover to enable them get treatment services at reasonable prices. Health facilities should also be evenly distributed according to the population to avoid overcrowding in a few facilities which might lead to numerous deaths while waiting to be attended to. Decentralization of facilities which are highly equipped to deal with obesity will help to ensure all cases even those deep in the rural areas are attended to hence minimization of deaths related to the condition. Hite, Victorson, Elue, & Plunkett, (2019), connotes that highly qualified personnel should also be dispatched to work in the decentralized medical facilities rather than keeping them in major referral hospitals where they may have to waste a lot of time waiting to attend to a few referred cases. 

A serious government in dealing with a condition like obesity will not only concentrate with the now issues facing its population but will try as much as possible to move into the future (Kelley, 2019). Obesity being a condition that is brought about by feeding habits, exercise issues and relaxation can be dealt with in the future by conducting research in order to come up with different strategies. For instance, future possible causes which when identified, health workers are convened educated and dispatched to share the knowledge with the entire population, future possible outcomes of the disease will also be identified and appropriate measures to prevent the disease from occurring (Jayawardene, Lohrmann, Dickinson, & Torabi, 2018).

The possible treatment that can be undertaken will also be considered and researchers allowed to try and get the required medicines to deal with the ailment in case the preventive measures against it fail to work (Cillik, 2018). When the level of awareness is raised concerning the uncertainties of the future about obesity, people will tend to be more keen and accurate on any possible details concerning the disease. This will therefore make individuals to report any case early which means that early interventions will be made and at the initial stages before an individual suffers much pain and mental torture (Kalmykova, Kalmykov, & Bismak, 2018). This therefore means a larger population of the country will be able to exercise many of the preventive measures other than the curative ones which also come along with specific side effects. 

Action Plans for Preventing Obesity

Conclusion

The aspect of obesity complication takes in the body as a result of several reasons that varies from one person to another. It occurs when an individual carries excess body weight and body fats that might end up affecting their health. To identify whether an individual is obese or not, doctors use body mass index where weight is related to height. They can also be allowed to undertake the first assessment procedures based on the level of their obese condition. The Ottawa health charter of 1986 came with significant action plans which any nation that is in pursuit of a healthy population should put into considerations. The action plans are building a healthy public policy aimed at ensuring health services are available, reorientation of health services to ensure awareness is raised, moving into the future to make significant inventions, development of personal skills to prevent obesity at a personal level, creation of a supportive environment which can support existence of healthy people and strengthening community action which will make the community ready to act in whatever capacity to prevent disease outbreak 

References

Alkan, I., Altunkaynak, B. Z., Altun, G., & Erener, E. (2019). The investigation of the effects of topiramate on the hypothalamic levels of fat mass/obesity-associated protein and neuropeptide Y in obese female rats. Nutritional Neuroscience, 22(4), 243–252. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=134919575&site=ehost-live

Cillik, I. (2018). Effect of athletic activity on chosen indicators of physical development and obesity parameters in 6 to 7 year old children. Journal of Physical Education & Sport, 18(3), 1785–1790.

Hite, A., Victorson, D., Elue, R., & Plunkett, B. A. (2019). An Exploration of Barriers Facing Physicians in Diagnosing and Treating Obesity. American Journal of Health Promotion, 33(2), 217–224. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=135191491&site=ehost-live

Jayawardene, W. P., Lohrmann, D. K., Dickinson, S., & Torabi, M. R. (2018). Population-Level Measures to Predict Obesity Burden in Public Schools: Looking Upstream for Midstream Actions. American Journal of Health Promotion, 32(3), 708–717. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=127969941&site=ehost-live

Jopkiewicz, A., & Nowak, S. B. (2018). Incidence of overweight and obesity in women aged 20-59 years from the ?wi?tokrzyskie Region. Baltic Journal of Health & Physical Activity, 10(4), 72–80. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=134349209&site=ehost-live

Kalmykova, Y., Kalmykov, S., & Bismak, H. (2018). Dynamics of anthropometric and hemodynamic indicators on the condition of young women with alimentary obesity in the application of a comprehensive program of physical therapy. Journal of Physical Education & Sport, 18(4), 2417–2427. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=134293491&site=ehost-live

Kelley, M. N. (2019). The Impact of an Obesity Risk Prevention Study among Native American Youth. ABNF Journal, 30(1), 12–15. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=135227106&site=ehost-live

Sharma, A. M., Goodwin, D. L., & Causgrove Dunn, J. (2018). Conceptualizing Obesity as a Chronic Disease: An Interview With Dr. Arya Sharma. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 35(3), 285–292. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=130371546&site=ehost-live

Timnea, A. C., Larisa, P., Timnea, O. C., Potop, V., & Jurat, V. (2018). Physiological Features of Obesity in Children and Adolescents. Journal of Physical Education & Sport, 18, 2199–2206. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=134289561&site=ehost-live

Plunkett, B. A. (2019). An Exploration of Barriers Facing Physicians in Diagnosing and Treating Obesity. American Journal of Health Promotion, 33(2), 217–224.

Willwéber, T., & ?illík, I. (2018). Effect of athletic activity on chosen indicators of physical development and obesity parameters in 6 to 7 year old children. Journal of Physical Education & Sport, 18(3), 1785–1790. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=132860596&site=ehost-live

Yujin Lim, & Soontae An. (2018). Effects of Attributions and Social Media Exposure on Obesity Stigma among Korean Adolescents. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 46(12), 2049–2061. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=133467342&site=ehost-live