Obesity and Its Prevention in California

Literature Review: Obesity and Its Prevention in California
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Literature Review: Obesity and Its Prevention in California
Introduction
In the last thirty years, the problem of obesity in the United States has been rising dramatically in both adults and children (Babey et al., 2009). California adult and children obesity rates are among the highest in the country. Obesity is among the most severe health issues globally. Although Californians rank highly as people that live a healthy lifestyle, the rates of obesity have doubled since the 1990s. Obesity is a health risk to individuals and this affects not only the patients, but also other members of the society. Several authors have addressed the issue of obesity and its impact, including the ways to mitigate the problem.
Overview of Obesity in California
Obesity rates for adults and children between 2 to 5 years, from the 1980s to 2010, show that the prevalence of the disease has doubled. The rates triple among children between the ages of six and eleven, and among teens of between twelve and nineteen years (Anderson et al., 2003). Obesity equally affects all groups of people, irrespective of their age, gender, race, culture, economic status, level of education and geographical region.
According to Lee (2012), in 2003, about 40 percent of the US medically obese adult population was of Hispanic origin; an ethnic group that makes up a huge part of the California population. Because Hispanics are the fastest-growing population group in the country, addressing the high obesity rates and the risk of obesity in this group constitutes a considerable public health challenge. In addition, because both individual and neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage measures appear to relate to GH BMI, understanding the needs of low-income people and low-income neighborhoods are also important. Although obesity risk is a challenge for all, and previous public health efforts have struggled to counter rising obesity trends, making sure that public education efforts are both relevant to and practical for diverse populations, is key to addressing the obesity problem in California.
In 2003, the obese adults’ women and men between the ages of 20-69 years in California account for 20% of the population approximately 4.5 million (Grummer-Strawn, 2010). This rise parallels that of the State this poses a serious health risk to the individuals. The children in low-income areas that are obese between 2 to 4 years are 17.3% and the other 5-19 years are 23.3%. The general population has 15.8% youth that is obese (Ogden et al., 2008). In California there are higher rates of obesity in Latino children, African Americans and American Indians than the Whites and Asians.
The Effects of Obesity
Obesity poses a health risk to children and adults. It causes high cholesterol and high-blood pressure an indication for heart diseases. There is a risk of diabetes because the person experiences high fasting insulin level and musculoskeletal ailments (Babey et al., 2012). Children that are overweight become obese adults. Adults with obesity, risk getting diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, some cancers, musculoskeletal disorders and early death. Obesity ranks second to tobacco use as the leading cause of death in the US. Experts predict that life expectancy, and productivity of youth is decreasing while the costs of maintaining the lifestyle are increasing due to obesity.
Obesity is an issue that has a negative impact by causing diseases that pose risks on not only the future of medicine, but also the future of health in the country (Wang et al., 2011). However, the fortunate side of childhood obesity is there is the ability chance to drastically improve the situation if not eliminating the problem all together. Obesity is a condition that relates to cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetes and many other illnesses and with the right information and knowledge, there is a high chance that one can start to win the battle against such deadly diseases.
Children of all races or ethnicity are obese with those of color, affected more. The Hispanic, African American and American Indians are more likely to be obese than their white counterparts (Kumanyika & Grier, 2006). Obesity has health problems that affect finances indirectly or indirectly. The direct medical expenses pertain to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of obesity. Indirect costs include a decrease in productivity, restriction on activities, absence and loss of value from premature death.
California has high costs related to obesity estimated at $15.2 billion equivalent to 41.5% of those financing from Medicare and Medi-Cal (Trogdon et al., 2012). The data from California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) shows that there has been a significant increase in hospital charges of about 39.7% for conditions related to obesity (Tong et al., 2013). Cardiovascular diseases from obesity are more expensive than those of cancer and diabetes. The five hundred thousand admissions annually are for those with obesity related diseases amounting to $33.8 billion in hospital charges. The Medi-Cal of California pays $5.6 billion which accounts for 17.2% of all the expenses on the disease.
Possible Solutions to Obesity in California (Application of the Community-Based Interventions)
The approach that can help reduce obesity in California pertains to community-based interventions. Community-based approach is relevant to the community affected by obesity and is the best choice in this circumstance. The widespread of the disease in California is increasing the need for the State to invest in programs that can mitigate the problem. The interventions extend beyond the behavior of individuals and address changes in policies and the environment (Flegal et al., 2010). It may be expensive for an individual to solely undertake the interventions and the processes can be unsuccessful if the environment offers unhealthy products and has no safe areas for physical activities (Sallis & Glanz, 2009).
Schools need the intervention programs to help them focus on diets and physical activities and this goes a long way to help prevent child obesity. The program can be effective if there is health education and family outreach in the community that is inclusive of children who are in middle school or younger, and are more likely to consume products that have low nutritional value (Babey et al., 2009). In order to change the way individuals manage their health, the government needs to formulate public policies at the state and local levels that can be useful in addressing the problem (Mermin & Graff, 2009). The strategies should inform the community on nutrition and physical exercises that adults and children can incorporate in their lives to avoid obesity. The support from the government and family outreach programs would help reduce costs on resources related to obesity. There would have a ...