Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for NU 422 Community Health Across the Lifespan in the College of Nursing and Health Science, Jacksonville State University
JACKSONVILLE, ALABAMA
2010
Table of Contents
I. Statement of the Problem................................................................................ 3
II. Review of Literature........................................................................................ 3
III. Health Promotion Project Assessment..............................................................4
IV. Diagnosis..........................................................................................................10
V. Planning...........................................................................................................11
VI. Implementation................................................................................................12
VII. Significance of Project.....................................................................................13
VIII. Evaluation........................................................................................................13
IX. References........................................................................................................15
Statement of the Problem
According to the CDC and US Department of Health and Human Services, obesity has dramatically increased in the US over the past twenty years (http:// www.cdc.gov). Each year over 300,000 US adults die from obesity related causes (http:// www.cdc.gov). A leading health indicator for Healthy People 2020 is overweight and obesity (http://www.healthypeople.gov/HP2020). As of 2008, 33.8% of the US health population is considered obese by a BMI of thirty or greater. 32.2% of those obese people are men and 35.5% are women (http:// www.cdc.gov). Obesity is a widespread disease and is now considered to be a public health issue. In 2008, Colorado was the only state to have an obesity prevalence of less than 20%(http:// www.cdc.gov). Also in 2008, six states including: Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia had a prevalence of obesity greater than 30% (http:// www.cdc.gov). Efforts should be taken to reduce the number of obese people in the United States. Healthy People 2020 is a program designed to focus on these areas related to the health status of the United States. Healthy People 2020 established goals to target adults in the United States to focus on ways to promote better health choices. One of the goals significant to the problem of obesity is to eliminate health disparities (http://www.healthypeople.gov). Studies show that obesity is associated with heart disease, cancer, stroke, and type II diabetes. These diseases are included in the top leading causes of death in the United States according to the CDC (http:// www.cdc.gov). The goal of Healthy People 2020 to eliminate health disparities is what this writer wants to teach her target audience of adults living in the United States, about the effects of health and environmental factors contributing to overweight/ obesity problems and ways to reverse these problems. The following five literature reviews demonstrate and support the hypothesis that health conditions and environment affect obesity.
Review of Literature In this research article by Menifield, Doty, and Flecther (2008), six specific areas are addressed for guiding this study: the relationship between obesity and poverty rates, relationship between obesity and high school graduation rates, relationship between obesity and per captia income, relationship between obesity and race, relationship between obesity and per captia health care spending, and relationship between obesity and
