Obesity in America

Describe the problem of obesity in the United States and discuss the role of the built environment in exacerbating such problem.

Obesity is a major healthcare concern among the American population, with nearly 35% (78.6 million) of the total population being obese. The comorbidity of obesity exacerbates the problem because obese persons have high risks of associated health conditions like cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and Type 2 diabetes, which ultimately increase mortality and healthcare cost. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared obesity a national epidemic due to its negative effects on an individual metabolic, physical, and psychological health. CDC reports that not even a single state in the U.S. has an obesity prevalence of less than 20% against the national goal of less than 15%. Hispanic and non-Hispanic blacks register the highest prevalence at 30.7% and 41.9%, respectively. It is also worth noting that prevalence is higher in middle-aged adults comprising 39.5% of cases. Obesity continues to take a toll on U.S. healthcare costs. Obesity accounts for approximately $147 billion in direct cost and indirect costs, amounting to $210 billion. Considering the treatment of diseases related to obesity, the cost could be higher.

Obesity results from an interaction of complex factors like physical activity, diet and the environment (Suglia et al., 2019). The built environment in the United States is extensively responsible for the high prevalence of obesity. For instance, a lack of neighborhood safety is associated with a high prevalence of obesity in women and racial minorities. Women and children are victims of crime, which reduces levels of physical activity. Besides, ethnic minorities live in poor neighborhoods that are crime-vested, leading to a high prevalence in Hispanic minorities. A poorly built environment limits the individual level of physical activity and access to healthy food. Suglia et al. (2019) observe that poor people and ethnic minorities live in poor neighborhoods with economic, infrastructural and social conditions supporting the development of fast food outlets, limited access to recreational facilities and affordable healthy food.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came out with recommended prevention strategies to address the problem of obesity. Describe the three environmental strategies related to food access that were highlighted in the video presentation.

According to Sisnowski et al. (2016), the availability and affordability of healthy foods in retail help people make healthier food choices reducing obesity risks. Different environmental strategies promote healthy food to help control the obesity epidemic, such as promoting and enforcing nutrition standards in schools, hospitals, workplaces, and other areas. Also, providing nutrition information such as calorie content in all fast food outlets to help people make decisions. Finally, there is a need to incentivize supermarkets and businesses in the food service industry to establish their operations in underserved areas. These strategies give people a wide range of choices and information to support healthy food choices.

Conduct your own literature search and identify two community-level strategies that have been shown to increase physical activity. Be sure to cite your sources to support your perspective.

To increase physical activity, there are built environment features that help the community become more active. Examples include activity-friendly routes to all destinations with the community to promote walking and recycling. According to Suglia et al., 2019, the government must support and operationalize safe community streets for all users regardless of age and gender. Public awareness should support the approach to encourage people to walk and cycle to all destinations. Another community-based strategy to increase physical activity is improving access to places of physical activity. This strategy seeks to improve access to physical activity and provide information to encourage their use.

References

Sisnowski, J., Street, J. M., & Braunack-Mayer, A. (2016). Targeting Population Nutrition Through Municipal Health And Food Policy: Implications Of New York City’s Experiences In Regulatory Obesity Prevention. Food Policy, 58, 24-34.

Suglia, S. F., Shelton, R. C., Hsiao, A., Wang, Y. C., Rundle, A., & Link, B. G. (2016). Why The Neighborhood Social Environment Is Critical In Obesity Prevention. Journal of Urban Health, 93(1), 206-212.

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The Problem of Obesity in America

Before you begin this assignment, read through the Home page and the required readings. Specifically view the Part 1: Public health & environmental approaches to obesity prevention at

Obesity in America

http://vimeopro.com/aptrmodules/phlm/video/75319797

This video is part of Public Health Learning Modules project funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and developed by Temple University Department of Public Health and the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research as a free teaching resource for public health professionals.

For this component of the Session Long Project, you will describe current environmental strategies, practices, and recommendations to build and promote health. Your task is to submit a paper that responds to the following questions:

1. Describe the problem of obesity in the United States and discuss the role of the built environment in exacerbating such problem.
2. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came out with recommended prevention strategies to address the problem of obesity. Describe the three environmental strategies related to food access that were highlighted in the video presentation.
3. Conduct your own literature search and identify two community-level strategies that have been shown to increase physical activity. Be sure to cite your sources to support your perspective.