Are Preventive Measures a Better Method - Research Paper Example

Running head: ARE PREVENTIVE MEASURE A BETTER METHOD Are Preventive Measures a Better Method of Weight Control for Obese Patients than Those Individuals Going Later for Gastric Banding? Student’s Name Name of University Subject Name of Professor Date of Submission Total Number of Words: 1,793 Introduction Obesity is referring to excessive amount of body fat in a human body. The World Health Organization (2003) has reported that billions of people all over the world are overweight and roughly 300 million of these individuals are classified as obese. Based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, approximately 17.1% of the 3,958 children who participated in the research study were overweight and that 35% of children between the age brackets of 6 to 19 years old are seriously overweight (Ogden et al., 2006). A lot of past research studies relate obesity with the abnormal food intake or poor diet (Styne, 2005), genetic factor such as a metabolic defect (Roth et al., 2004; Rosmond, 2002), leptin deficiency and/or the use of steroids (Link et al., 2004). Children and adults who are obese are facing problems not only related to social adjustment disorders or social discrimination (Pearce et al., 2002) but also a long list of serious health concerns such as heart diseases, diabetes and the different types of cancer (WHO, 2005). Aside from providing the definition of health and chronic illnesses as stated by the World Health Organization among others, how these definitions are in consistent with my own thoughts will be thoroughly discussed. After determining the impact of food manufacturers’ television advertisement on the increasing rate of obesity in the United States, the proposed research study will focus on determining whether or not preventive measures is a better method of weight control for obese patients than those who prefer to undergo gastric banding. In the process of going through the main discussion, the significance of diet, exercise, and gastric banding procedure on minimizing the cases of obesity will be compared and contrast. Based on the gathered information, a list of recommendations will be provided prior to conclusion. Research Question Are preventive measures a better method of weight control for patients than patients going later for gastric banding? Definition of Health and Chronic Illness and How these Definitions are Consistent with My Own Thoughts The World Health Organization (2003) defined health as “the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. On the other hand, chronic illness is defined as “the irreversible presence, accumulation, or latency of disease states or impairments that involve the total human environment for supportive and self-care, maintenance of function, and prevention of further disability” (Curtin & Lubkin, 1995, pp. 6 – 7). In my own thoughts, the health and wellness of each person is not all about being physically free from being ill but living a lifestyle that would prevent these people from having the need to undergo the consequences of poor physical resistance against certain diseases related to major heart problems and diabetes. On the other hand, chronic illnesses are negative health consequences that normally last more than six (6) months or more. A good example of chronic illness is obesity because not all people who are obese could effectively lose their excess weight within a time span of six (6) months. Since obesity can be considered as a chronic illness, nurses are very much encouraged to continuously promote the health of obese patients through health teachings. The Impact of Food Manufacturers’ Television Advertisement on the Increasing Rate of Obesity Since the use of television advertisements could easily attract and affect the food preferences of the children, food and advertising companies often target the children more than the adults (Magnus et al., 2009). In line with this, most of the unhealthy food advertisements are using toys, colourful images, convincing music, and popular personalities as a way of effectively capturing the attention of children to patronize unhealthy food products (Morley et al., 2008). The problem with this particular food television advertisement strategy is that these children may eventually develop a positive perception with regards to eating unhealthy foods as they enter adulthood stage. Upon examining the possibility to consider children’s television viewing as a significant indicator of risks to obesity, the eating habit of children, the low-level of physical activity among children, and the overweight or obesity among children within the primary school, Salmon, the cross-sectional study that was conducted by Salmon, Campbell, & Crawford (2006) revealed that the time spent by each child watching television is a good indicator of child obesity since school age children who were allowed to watch televsion more than two hours a day is more likely to have one or more serving of high energy drinks, one or more serving of savoury snacks, less than two or more serving of fruits a day, and are less likely to participate in high level of physical activity as compared to children who were allowed to watch television less than two hours each day. Similar to the study of Salmon, Campbell, & Crawford (2006), Utter, Scragg, & Schaaf (2006) also revealed that children and adolescents who watch television most of the time are more likely to end up consuming unhealthy foods like soft drinks, sweets and snacks, and fast food products that are commonly seen on television advertisements after examining the impact of longer duration of television exposure on the eating habit of children and adolescents. Significance of Diet, Exercise, and Gastric Banding in Fighting Obesity Importance of Proper Diet and Physical Activities The American Heart Association and the American Dietetic Association has been strongly promoting the importance of following the low-fat dietary guidelines set for individuals who would want to lose their excess weight. On the contrary, the Atkins diet and Zone diet are suggesting the need to cut down on the intake of carbohydrates in a person’s diet. For the reason that the long-term effects of low-fat and low-carbohydrate diet is still unknown, one of the article that was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association do not recommend the practice of low-fat or low carbohydrate diet in terms of enabling obese individuals lose weight (Bravata, Sanders, & Huang, 2003). Ss compared to the practice of low-fat diet, the practice of low-carbohydrate diet was seen more effective in terms of improving weight lose and reduce the patients’ risk for cardiovascular diseases but not the patients’ blood sugar level (Hession et al., 2008). Regardless of the type of diet obese individuals would accept, several studies revealed that effective weight loss will improve cholesterol (Hession et al., 2008; Tay et al., 2008). In line with this, the research findings of Tay et al. (2008) showed that the adaptation of low-fat diet is more effective in terms of improving the LDL and total cholesterol levels but not the levels of HDL and triglyceride. The opposite has been observed with high fat and low-carbohydrate diet (Tay et al., 2008). In the absence of significant weight lose, the practice of following either low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet will not improve the patient’s cholesterol level. The only benefit that obese patients would receive out of practicing low-carbohydrate diet and/or low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet is that obese individuals are unlikely to gain back the weight they have lost easily because of metabolic backfire (Howard et al., 2006). Another kind of diet is the Mediterranean diet which strongly promotes the intake of high fiber and monounsaturated fats such as the use of olive oil in cooking foods. In line with the practice of this particular diet, Shai et al. (2008) revealed that Mediterranean diet is effective in terms of reducing weight more than the practice of low-fat diet especially in the case of diabetic patients. Physical exercise is equally important in terms of enabling a person to burn extra calories that can form as excess body fats when left unused. When combined with proper diet, studies revealed that physical activities could increase the success that obese individuals would lose weight safely (Tay et al., 2008; Howard et al., 2006; Ogden et al., 2006). Impact of Gastric Banding In line with this, the study of Dapri, Cadiere, & Himpens (2009) revealed that the practice of laparoscopic conversion of adjustable gastric banding is effective and feasible except for the incidence of one (1) death. Although gastric banding is effective in terms of enabling obese individuals to easily lose weight, it is undeniable that many of these individuals who undergo gastric banding faces the risks of short- and long-term health-related complications. With regards to the safety issue on gastric banding, Keller et al. (2009) revealed that 30 out of 50 obese individuals had to undergo open surgery and that 1 out of 50 and 3 out of 50 experienced early and late complications after undergoing the gastric banding procedure. Upon examining the possible health complications related to gastric banding, Mittermair et al. (2009) found out that the most common complications these patients are likely to encounter includes: esophagitis (28.8%), pouch dilation (15.3%), esophageal dilation (12.5%), port problems (11%), band migration (6.5%), and band leakage (6.4%). For this reason, 251 or 32% of the total research participants (785) had no choice but to undergo a re-operation procedure (Mittermair et al., 2009). Recommendations Since each type of diet could make obese individuals to successfully lose weight, it is advisable for obese individuals to experiment the different types of diet to determine the best diet that would work better for them. Once these individuals have selected the best diet, obese individuals should stick with the chosen diet. To avoid adverse health effects, obese individuals should refrain from extreme dieting at all times (Knight et al., 2003). Depending on the type of diet obese individuals would prefer to use, these people are very much encouraged to combine proper diet with regular exercise in order to maximize the weight lose potential of each individual. Obese individuals should be discouraged in undergoing invasive procedures like the gastric banding. As part of the health teachings delivered within a community, health care professionals like nurses should teach the children and parents the importance of eating healthy foods aside from encouraging these children to actively participate in physical activities related to sports. Given that binge eaters easily regain back the weight they have lost, obese individuals should go through a cognitive-behavioral therapy which could teach them several proper techniques that will enable them to effectively monitor and change their personal eating habits in response to different internal and external stimuli (Marcus, 1993). The professional help of interpersonal psychotherapy could also enable obese individuals to make some necessary changes in their lives with regards to their personal relationships with their friends and family members. Conclusion Preventive measures on weight gain such as proper diet, regular exercise, and healthy lifestyle will always be better than allowing obese individuals to undergo invasive procedures like the gastric banding because of the possible short- and long-term adverse health effects associated with the use of gastric banding. *** End *** References Bravata, D., Sanders, L., & Huang, J. (2003). Efficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate diets: a systematic review. Journal of American Medical Association , 289(14):1837-1850. Retrieved September 25th from PubMed database. Curtin, M., & Lubkin, I. (1995). What is chronicity? In: Lubkin I.M. (ed.) Chronic illness: Impact and Intervention. MA: Jones and Bartlett. Dapri, G., Cadiere, G., & Himpens, J. (2009). Laparoscopic conversion of adjustable gastric banding and vertical banded gastroplasty to duodenal switch. Surgery of Obesity and Related Diseases , July 10. [Epub ahead of print]. Retrieved September 25th from PubMed database. 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