Controlling Obesity through Diet and Exercise - Essay Example

This paper is focused on controlling obesity through diet and exercise, which is a major practical aspect of health promotion. After explaining health promotion and its selected aspect, a literature review will follow. Theory and practice will be compared from a nursing perspective. A suitable conclusion will be provided at the end.   Analysis of Health Promotion According to O’Donnell (2009, p. iv), “Health Promotion is the art and science of helping people discover the synergies between their core passions and optimal health, enhancing their motivation to strive for optimal health.” (Please refer to Appendix - I) Thus health promotion involves various positive health practices; controlling obesity through diet and exercise is a major aspect of the subject.   Controlling Obesity through Diet and Exercise Obesity is a major problem in developed countries like UK and USA. “Young adults can generally eat more and not gain weight, but metabolism tends to slow in the mid-30's (and middle-aged people become more inactive), so that is when many adults begin to gradually gain weight.” (The University of Utah, 2012) Increased calorie intake, low physical activity,y and lack of dietary awareness are the key issues.   Literature Review According to Yanovski et al (2000), environmental behavioral changes in life (e.g. smoking cessation) can be cofactors of weight gain. Powell et al (1994) subjected 35 obese women to calorie restriction and exercises for 12 weeks. Results showed that “All subjects lost body weight and body fat; … percent of calories derived from dietary fats does not influence loss of body weight or percent body fat in adult obese women.” (Powell et al, 1994, pp. 446-447) Further, Dall et al (2009) advocate sodium, saturated fat, and calorie restrictions in the American diet. According to the findings of their research “reduction in caloric intake should be the highest priority” (Dall et al, 2009, p. 142) in setting public health benchmarks for dietary and nutritional guidance (Please refer to Appendix - II).To control the problem of obesity, organizations like NHS have categorized it under major public health concerns; hence health care professionals like nurses (who generally serve in public environments such as hospitals) are considered to have an increased responsibility. (NHS, 2010)   Contextually, findings from existing scientific literature and observed practice have striking similarities and are mostly mutually inclusive. Personally, in the hospital environments as a nurse, I found sedentary patients invariably gain weight. Better food habits can help them a lot. Particularly elder adults need dietary restrictions such as avoidance of fat. However, these restrictions should spare protein content in the food up to the required levels, so that adequate nutrition can be supplied. Further, even a balanced diet may cause obesity if regular exercise is done. Thus, research-based inferences and practical experience are very similar. However, genetic factors too can cause obesity that cannot be effectively controlled; but such occurrences are rather rare (Rosenbaum et al, 1997)   Read More