Health promotion strategy - Essay Example

?Health promotion Strategy The kind of lifestyle that one leads right from childhood plays a big role in determining his health status. Child obesitycases are currently on the increase in Kent, UK, obesity is a condition that occurs when there is excess body fat in that it affects the child’s health and well being. Currently there is an increase in the prevalence of obesity among children and due to its adverse health effects; it is now considered as a serious public health concern. The main purpose of this essay is to is to discuss the effectiveness of health promotion and health education in regard to child obesity. The Beattie model has been used for a long time to address lifestyle and health issues, this model will be used in this paper to establish the effectiveness of health education and promotion related to children diagnosed with obesity and a sustained health gain. A recent study carried out by in Kent and Sussex reveal shocking figures of child obesity. According to the report, 10 children in Tunbridge Wells were obese at the start of primary school. The same case is also been witnessed in Gravesham and other parts of Kent, health experts have warned of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure ,stroke and cancer later in life. Through the application of the Bettie model, this paper will come up with practicable sustainable solutions of solving the health problem (Culpit, 1999). According to Poskitt and Edmunds (2008), the lifestyle of a family can lead or prevent the occurrence of child obesity. Changing lifestyle is one of the solutions towards attaining a healthy body, instead of concentrating on dieting, parents with obese children are advised to change their lifestyles “ For this reason, those with overweight children should avoid emphasis on ‘dieting’ and make sure changes in eating habits are part of the range of lifestyle changes” (Poskitt and Edmunds ,2008 p.92).Child obesity deserves health promotion in Kent and other parts of UK due to the high risky factors ,for instance a child suffering from obesity is three times more prevalent to high blood pressure,13 -18 times more in acquiring type II diabetes,21 times more in acquiring gall bladder dieseas,3-5 times more in acquiring heart dieses and 30 times more in acquiring osteo arthritis compared to other children (Great Britain National Audit Office, 2006). To have a healthy and productive future generation and to cut down on the significant amount of money spent in controlling the disease, tackling childe obesity is a public health concern and should be carried out by all the conncernedn parties to ensure healthy life for children living in Kent and around the UK. In every society, there are inequalities and determinants in health that are related to tackling child obesity. The economic and social conditions under which an individual, family or community live determines their health (Raphael, 2008), social and economic determinants dictates whether a person has access to the physical, social and personal recourses that achieve personal aspirations, satisfy his need or cope with the society, its about the quantity and quality of resources availed to an individual or community Some of the key social determinants factors are safety net, early life, unemployment and employment security ,gender, income and its distribution ,education, aboriginal status, food security, health care services, housing and homelessness, social exclusion ,crime and safety ,physical environment among others. The social determinants that affect a child’s health are the employment status of his parents, the type of environment, and availability of social amenities such as play grounds, health care systems, and education level of the parents, food security, and income distribution social exclusion among others. When these determinants are improved and taken care of, the level of obesity among children will be controlled and prevented. For example parent who is well educated will ensure that her children exercise and avoid fatty foods, in terms of the environment, a community with ample playing ground will be health for the children’s health and social inclusive society that ensure that institutions such as health centers are equally and well distributed will enable a parent find help in case he has a child with obesity (Culpit, 1999). According to World Health Organisation, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of dieses or infirmity”. Health also means the state of being sound, whole and hale in body, soul and mind, it is the absence of disease or pain. Health education, is the profession of teaching or education people on their health, health education includes environmental health, emotional health, physical health, intellectual health, social health and spiritual health. It is the principle through which individuals and communities learn to behave in a way that promotes that maintains the restoration of health (Donatelle, 2009).Health promotion is a process sued to enable people increase the control over their habits to improve their health, health education and promotion are equally used in advocating for changed lifestyle that promotes the health of children. Before establishing any health promotional strategy, it is necessary to define and incorporate health education, promotion, health determinants and social health determinant for the plan to be successful (Donatelle, 2009). One of the social promotional strategies in combating obesity in children in Kent , Beattie (1991) model of health promotion offers a structural analysis with four paradigms illustrating different approaches that can be used by parents, children, health care officers among others. The approaches are generated from the dimensions of mode of intervention to negotiate. The mode of intervention runs from authoritative (top down and expert –led) and the negotiated dimension is from (bottom –up and valuing individual autonomy). The health promotion work involves the advise and information given by practitioners, the policy work can also be expertise and priorities determined by epidemiological data. The four quadrants HPT, LAH, PCH, and CDH outline the way in which health promotion can be attained in implementing health promotion among children suffering from obesity. The first quadrant is about Health Persuasion Thought, in this quadrant, there is need to encourage people to adopt healthier life styles, the person in charge of conducting the persuasion exercise is the health practitioner. In addition there is need to conserve political ideology, that is, maintain health policies in place for consistency. Most of the activities in the quadrant include advice and information (McKenzie,et al 2009). In the second quadrant, the approach to be used is a legislative one; the legislature is responsible for protecting the population by making healthier choices accessible and affordable. The role of the practitioner is to practice as a custodian of the nation’s health, understanding what is needed and ensuring that it is provided. This kind of actions require a reformist political ideology that keep changing with changing needs , some of the activities included in this quadrant are lobbying and policy work. The third quadrant is about personal counseling, in this approach, the focus in on empowering the individual with skills and confidence in taking control over their health. The practitioner’s role is to counsel and work with people self defined needs. The right political atmosphere for this kind of approach is that of liberation and a humanistic political ideology. The major activities included in this approach include counseling and education. The fourth and last quadrant employs the community development approach, it enfranchises groups and communities to recognize what they have in common and utilize it and understand how social factors has an effect on their lives. The practitioner’s role is that of an advocate, this kind of approach requires a radical political ideology and the main activities entail community development and action (Donatelle, 2009). The two quadrant that will be compared will be the third and forth quadrants, the similarities between the two is that they all focus in empowering the people, in the third one, individuals are empowered to take control of their lives by taking advantage of the available recourses, is the fourth one, there is also focus on the realization of the people’s recourses in fighting obesity in children. For example in the third one, a family would utilize the compound in allowing the child to exercise, while in the fourth one, the community can work together to create and utilize playing grounds around it. The practitioners role is both are almost similar the role played by a counselor is to instill or champion of a given practices just as an advocator does. The differences between the two is that the third quadrant focuses on the individual and the fourth one one the community, the third one acknowledges the fact that to change a society you have to start at the individuals’ stage. The political scenario in the third quadrant is liberation and humanistic political ideology that allows for people expression and the fourth one can be achieved in a radical atmosphere where rights groups lobby and champion for their rights. The third quadrant strengths are that it deals with the problem of the health issue right on the head, this is because, even if the government or community puts certain policies in place, it takes an individual to abide by the. In addition, when individuals are educated on the role that lifestyles plays in securing healthy future they are most likely to change any unhealthy lifestyles. One of the disadvantages is that an individual cannot operate exclusively from the society. In the forth quadrant, some of the strengths in this approach include having a community based approach, most of such approaches succeed because there is a renewed form of strength that drives the community members towards a common goal. However, when the fire seizes to exist, mostly after a long period of time caused by lack of time or commitment, then this approach is likely to fail. In conclusion, successful health promotional plans should incorporate all the four quadrants; this is because applying a single quadrant may not address all the required social determinants in tackling obesity among children and other health conditions. The UK government should work hand in hand with all policy makers all the process with more focus in Kent due to the high rates of children diagnosed form obesity. Ensuring a healthy young population will not only ensure safety nets in terms of future employment, a healthy population but also address the over expenditure that goes towards controlling this disease (Burns,2010). References Burns, Aninna , Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention and Institute of Medicine ,2010 Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention: Workshop National Academies Press, London. Donatelle, R. (2009). Promoting Healthy Behavior Change. Health: The basics. (pp. 4). 8th edition. San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc Chinn, Susan, Rona, Roberto J, Prevalence and trends in Overweight and obesity in three cross sectional studies of British children, 1974-1994 “British Medical Journal 6th January 2001 Volume 322, page 24 – 26” Culpit Ian 1999 Social Policy and Risk Sage Publications London. Giddens Anthony 1994 Living in a post-traditional society, in Beck, U, Giddens A and Lash A (eds) Reflexive Modernisation: Politics, traditions and Aesthetics in Modern Socia; Order, Cambridge Polity Press. Great Britain National Audit Office, 2006, Tackling Child Obesity - First Steps, The Stationery Office, London. Kemshall Hazel 2002 Risk, Social Policy & Welfare Open University Press Bucki Kitchener, H. Mar 26 2010. Child Obesity: Shock figures Revealed Accessed on 13th March 2010 from http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/kent-and-sussex-courier-the-tunbridge-wells-ed/mi_8138/is_20100326/child-obesity-shock-figures-revealed/ai_n52919808/ McKenzie, J., Neiger, B., Thackeray, R. (2009). Health Education and Health Promotion. Planning, Implementing, & Evaluating Health Promotion Programs. (pp. 3-4). 5th edition, Pearson Education, Inc,London. Poskitt, E and Edmunds, L 2008 ,Management of Childhood Obesity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Raphael, D., Anstice, S., & Raine, K. (2003). The social determinants of the incidence and management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Are we prepared to rethink our questions and redirect our research activities? Leadership in Health Services, 16, 10-20 WHO. Definition of Health. Accessed on 13th March 2011 from http://www.who.int/about/definition/en/print.html Read More