6HL006 Aprainsing health policy and practice Medicine, Nursing Essay

APPRAISING HEALTH POLICY AND PRACTICE
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Appraising Health Policy and Practice
Introduction
A health policy can be comprehensively defined as specific decisions, plans, and actions that are taken with the aim of achieving a particular health outcome among the public. The health policy that will be discussed in the paper is the promotion of fitness ad physical activity in communities. Presently, there is a rise in the number of individuals suffering from lifestyle diseases and who need critical attention. The increase in the population of such individuals is reflective of the poor habits they have developed over the years (Morgen and Sørensen 2014, p.54). Admittedly, conditions related to lack of physical fitness have resulted in an increased healthcare cost, which has affected the general healthcare industry. In response, relevant bodies have taken the initiative to come up with a broad array of health policies as an answer to this problem. Promoting physical fitness in communities is the surest way with the healthcare sector has initiated a response to the deteriorating health conditions and preventing the vulnerable from falling victim (Morgen and Sørensen 2014, p.54). Encouraging people to involve in physical activities, in addition to eating healthy, has worked for various countries around the world and has therefore been taken as an authoritative means of responding to the health issues related to lack of physical fitness.
Health Issue
Overweight and obesity are health problems that have witnessed increased growth in the recent past. The terms overweight and obesity are used to describe a weight that is greater than what health standards consider normal for a particular height, and is caused by the excess accumulation of fats in the body. A person who is overweight is vulnerable to a plethora of diseases, which can pose a significant danger to their lives. In worst-case scenarios, it can lead to the death of an individual. The standard method of measuring obesity and overweight is body mass index (BMI). Body mass index is one’s weight in kilograms divided by their height in meters. 18.5 to 24.9 is the ideal BMI range for adults (Morgen and Sørensen 2014, p.54). The BMI calculation of children aged between two and eighteen often consider a plethora of factors, including age, gender, height, and weight. According to the world health organization, individuals with a BMI of 25 or more are considered overweight (Morgen and Sørensen 2014, p.54). At the same time, those whose BMI record hits 30 or more are considered obese.
Cases of obesity seem to be on the rise by the day. For instance, in 2016 alone, more than 1.9 billion adults were registered as overweight, and a third of this number was obese (Krebs et al. 2017, p.228). It is evident how this huge population costs the healthcare system huge amounts of money. In percentages, 39% and 40% of men and women respectively were found to be overweight in the United States. Across the world, the world health organization has recorded that 13% of individuals world-over were registered as suffering from obesity (Krebs et al. 2017, p.228). Even more worrying is that the prevalence of overweight and obesity worldwide has increased by close to two-fold between 2016 and 2020 (Krebs et al. 2017, p.228). In the past, obesity and overweight were considered high-income country problems. However, low and middle-income countries have also experienced a rise in the number of cases in the recent past. For instance, the overweight and obese populations have increased by more than 24% since 2000, thereby presenting new problems for these regions (Krebs et al. 2017, p.228).
The primary cause of overweight and obesity is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and those that are removed from the body. If a person takes in more calories than their bodies can utilize, then they are bound to be overweight as the body will store them as fats. On the other hand, if one balances their intake of calories and their expulsion from the body, then they are bound to maintain a lean and healthy body. The global food market has experienced a rise in the number of foods high in fat and sugar (Krebs et al. 2017, p.228). At the same time, there has been an increase in physical inactivity arising from rapid urbanization, changing modes of transport, and an increasingly sedentary life at work.
Drivers of the Health Issue
These factors have steered a steady increase in the case of overweight and obesity. The lack of supportive policies in various sectors, including health, agriculture, and education, among others, has been a major driver of the increasing number of individuals suffering experiencing overweight and obesity (Miles et al. 2017, 314). The environment can also contribute substantially to overweight and obesity. For example, areas that lack amenities such as affordable gyms, sidewalks, and area parks often have a relatively high number of overweight and obesity cases. This is because one may find it difficult to engage in physical activities. Another major driver of this health problem is oversized food portions, which makes physical exercise even more necessary if maintaining a healthy weight is anything to come by. Furthermore, the kind of advertising that food companies have adopted in the recent past has also contributed substantially to unhealthy dietary choices (Miles et al. 2017, 314). For instance, people tend to buy foods high in fat content and sugary drinks because of how their advertisements are done. Genetics also has a role in determining whether one becomes overweight or obese. In essence, some individuals are more exposed to obesity and overweight than others because of the composition of their genes. For instance, people with Prader-Willi Syndrome are more likely to be overweight or obese than their counterparts without the syndrome (Miles et al. 2017, 314).
Policy Outline/ Background
The health policy that would respond effectively to this health problem is promoting physical activity in the community. This policy fundamentally involves the creation of a conducive environment that makes it easier for individuals to engage in physical activities such as walking or riding bicycles. It helps in burning excess calories and fats and ensures that one maintains a healthy BMI (Weimer and Vining 2017, p.98). In other words, the current communities should be transformed into active communities. Active communities are those that are designed to support physical activities among populations. In most cases, these communities are age-specific, and their target is to help individuals to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
State and local health departments can up with well-though-out connecting routes that work towards helping individuals improve their physical activities as they go about their duties in the community. This package of resources is one of those that can lead to an activity-friendly community. There are a host of strategies that have been used in other communities around the world to improve physical activities. The Community Preventive Service Task Force (CPSTF) can come up with various ways of designing the built environment in a way that combines a variety of strategies that work to improve bicycle transportation and pedestrian walks (Weimer and Vining 2017, p.98). Worth mentioning is that the healthcare department has stated that it needs more individuals to become more physically active to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity. This program, dubbed Healthy Nations, has become more serious of late as several individuals are enrolled. Communities can make it a point to improve their health standing by improving these evidence-based strategies to improve their lives in general. It is for this reason that the center for disease control (CDC) came up with a comprehensive guideline on how communities can implement these strategies in the most effective way possible.
There are also various assessment tools that the healthcare department has used to gauge whether a community is active. As mentioned before, active communities are seen by the manner with which the buildings in a community are designed. The Built Environment...