This paper is about the concept of primary health care and its involvement and application towards the issue of obesity in Australia. With the introduction and adoption of primary health care in 1978 as an approach to evolve and advocate healthy choices towards the Australian population influenced the Australian health care systems response and treatment towards health issues such as the national health priority areas, which are
Stated in ("National health priority areas (AIHW)," n.d.). as “diseases and conditions that Australian governments have chosen for focused attention because they contribute significantly to the burden of illness and injury in the Australian community.”
Which Obesity plays a major contributor as it is growing in society
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having a high rate in the population which (Healy,2009, p. 1) Reveals as “obesity among adults doubling in the last two decades” Also ("Overweight and obesity (AIHW)," n.d.) indicates that being overweight or obese is found to be in every 1 in 4 children in Australia. Obesity is evident to correlate to a number of health problems, Healy (2009), p. 8) enunciates that research and study have found that Australians with obesity have a high degree of suffering illnesses such as diabetes, heart attack, stroke and osteoarthritis than previously thought. An array of information widely found in books, websites, statistics, government reports and news reports that adeptly reflect the degree of application of primary health care principles being implemented towards obesity by the utilization of tools witch include accessibility, promotion, legislation, education and community involvement to tackle the obesity epidemic as it leads and correlates factors to a myriad of health problems. Primary health care can be defined in the declaration of Alma, Alta 1978 which which can be interpreted as all humans being inherent to have fair and affordable access to acceptable health and holistic care that is justified to work via appropriate methods and technology which function with the countries health care system by offering the first level of contact to health care at a convenient location to were people live and work ( Who.int, (n.d.). The concept of primary health care can be reflected in the its principles as Accessibility to health services, Use of appropriate technology, Individual and community participation, Increased health promotion and disease prevention and Intersectoral co-operation and collaboration. Which are evident in the framework in which primary heath care has been implemented to a nation where Australian bureaus of statistics reveal that “ The prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased in Australia over time, from 56.3% in 1995 and 61.2% in 2007–08.” (Overweight and Obesity, 2013.). Which highlight the need for urgent action. Primary health care and its application towards obesity is evident in its principle the accessibility to health services which can be defined as each individual having affordable access to health care services that can cater for their wellbeing and health which the Australian health care system have implemented by the use of Medicare which allows individuals to have affordable access to health professionals which Local population health measures to prevent obesity (role of MLs) | COMPaRE-PHC," (n.d.).
states that “Individual clinicians (GPs, nurses, allied health, Aboriginal Health Workers etc)” “Medicare Locals can make an important contribution at the local level to preventing obesity” " Which is reinforced in (Bhi.nsw.gov.au,.), (2015) that states how the public having access to health specialists such as doctors who can conduct blood cholesterol testing as effective because “Proactive screening and diagnosis of adults with raised cholesterol levels, followed by ongoing management, has been shown to save lives and help avoid unnecessary hospitalisation.2” In addition the public having full access to government health websites such as health direct Australia which is reflected in (Healthdirect.gov.au,. (n.d.) Which provides information that can adeptly educate individuals to watch what they eat, measure there belly’s, conduct self assessment “methods commonly used to estimate whether you are a healthy weight or not” (healthdirect.gov.au,. (n.d). And calculate there BMI which can act as early warning signs and prevent obesity. Although one or more can argue the accessibility of health services is insufficient as (Ruralhealth.org.au, 2013)
Highlights that “rates of obesity are higher in rural and remote areas than in the cities” Which questions primary health care and its accessibility for all, as the population that live in rural and remote areas seem to be in more risk of being
obese. Thus the primary health care principle accessibility to health services is evident in the affordable access society has to health professionals such and holistic care as nurses and doctors who can conduct tests and screenings to measures ones health which can determine there risk of obesity and give early warning sigh’s also the creation of government health websites that provide information and education about healthy living and self assessment to prevent obesity however one can argue and debate that the population living in rural and remote areas don’t have the equal access as to health services as the population do in the cities. Primary health care and its maintenance and prevention tools towards obesity is evident in its principle Use of appropriate technology as the public can have access to appropriate technology such as smart weight scales which is recommended by (Steinberg, Tate, Bennett, Ennett, Samuel-Hodge & Ward, 2013) as they Found that that the use of smart scales as “weight loss intervention that focused on daily self-weighing for self-monitoring” “can produce clinically significant weight loss” In addition (Omron Body Logic Pro Fat Analyzer HBF 306 BIA Bioelectric Impedance HBF306 Handheld Hand Held," n.d.) states that Bioelectric Impedance Analysis technology (body fat analzsers) “is considered one of the most accurate and accessible methods of screening body fat.” Thus conveys the degree primary health care principle use of appropriate technology, which can as a tool to help prevent obesity as these technologies such as scales and body fat analysers can function by showing early warning signs which can influence one to watch there weight. Primary health cares application of its principle Individual and community participation acts as a trigger of prevention for obesity this is adeptly revealed by (Kennedy, 2011) who reflects a local community program to “combat obesity”. That advocates about getting fit and losing weight. Which adeptly Enunciates how local communities programs that promote and influence healthy lifestyle choices such as diet and exercise promote physical activity and weight loss which reduces people from living unhealthy lives and gaining weight which could lead to obesity. Also healthy living diet programs such as the CHIP program which ("Complete Health Improvement Program | About CHIP," n.d.) States is “an affordable, lifestyle enrichment program designed to reduce disease risk” through the adoption of better health habits” “to lower blood cholesterol, hypertension, and blood sugar levels and reduce excess weight. “ “Done by improving dietary choices, enhancing daily exercise, “ aiding in preventing and reversing disease.” Which can Influence individuals to participate in cooking a variety of healthy meals. Which can prevent unhealthy foods being cooked and reduce people from getting fat. Thus the primary health care principle of Individual and community participation is evident in community ran programs that can influence individuals to get involved in healthy lifestyle choices. The Primary heath care principle Increased health promotion and disease prevention is implemented to increase promotion of healthy living and initiatives that will the reduce obesity. This is evident in the use of anti-obesity advertisements on television which (Fitness, D ., & problem, g, 2014) Illustrates a graphic, confronting and “powerful visual representation of what's happening inside the body of those who are overweight or obese and reminds us all of how dangerous overweight and obesity is” Which accentuates the dangers of obesity to the public and act as a prevention tool by promoting the negative side effects of obesity to a large and broad audience. Thus initiatives such as health TV advertisements reflect the primary health care principle Increased health promotion and disease prevention in terms of preventing obesity growth in the population and educating the consequences of an obese life. The primary health care approach to prevent obesity and promote healthy living is evident in the PHC principle Intersectoral co-operation and collaboration which can be defined by (A, Seimenis., n.d.) As “The common action between health and other related social and economic sectors for the achievement of a common goal, while the contribution of the different sectors is closely coordinated” which can be understood though the spectrum that Improving health is a responsibility shared among all and that health promotion can increase if individuals, communities, government and non-government agencies work and collaborate together towards achieving a common health goal (Univeristy, C., (n.d.). This principle is evident in Australia’s tackle against obesity as (Thompson, J., 2010) highlights the NSW state food labelling laws which are regulated to “Require quick service restaurants to display kilojoule count on their menu board” t with the prospect “ To help consumers make sense of those numbers, restaurants will also have to display the average daily adult kilojoule intake so that, according to the Premier, consumers "are able to make a choice not just based on the impact on their hip pocket but also on their hips and their hearts." (Thompson, J., 2010). Thompson emphasises and hopes that the decision “Should go someway towards improving public health” (Thompson, J., 2010) this movement clearly illustrates the fast food sector and state sector cooperating together towards the health interest in reducing the obesity epidemic. Also the principle of Intersectoral co-operation and collaboration is reinforced in the co-operation of the soft drink sector coke and the public health interest of the obesity problem in Australia that is reflected by (Langley, 2013) who indicates that “Beverage giant Coca-Cola South Pacific” “announced it would take action and commitment in Australia to “help be part of the solution to obesity” in a health campaign were coca-cola will enforce and promote healthy living and offer more healthy beverages. Thus the primary health care approach and principle Intersectoral co-operation and collaboration is reflected in the cooperation of businesses in different sectors with the public health interest sharing a the responsibility to prevent obesity and promote health living. Overall it is strongly apparent that primary health care and its principles have been implemented to taskforce the obesity epidemic in Australia the accessibility to health services for individuals is very evident as the public have access to GPs nurses at a affordable rate but what raises debate is the access people living In rural and remote areas have to health services which can show unfairness and t limited access, The use of appropriate technology is catered well to tackle obesity, the access and use of scales and body fat analysers enunciate the mechanism used to check ones health. The individual and community participation towards health programs and healthy living opposing obesity is strongly influenced by the local communities and non-government programs Health promotion and disease prevention is reflected in numerous television advertisements initiates funded by government. Intersectoral co-operation and collaboration is very visible as the publics health is a shared responsibility and to see big companies such as McDonalds and coke noticing the obesity epidemic in Australia, and respond in a appropriate manner to find a solution. Thus there is no question that primary health care has been implemented to prevent obesity growing with the means of promoting and maintaining healthy living and care.
“63% of Australian adults were overweight or obese in 2011–12, 70% of men and 56% of women. This has increased from 57% in 1995.
Both the risk factors and the effects of obesity are now more terrifying than any other preventable disease to both the population and the economy of Canada. In a survey of seventeen developed countries, Canada placed only tenth in life expectancy and wellbeing, while placing fourth in the highest spending on healthcare(Flood). A large factor in Canada’s state of poor well-being is obesity; obesity causes one in ten premature deaths of people aged twenty to sixty-four(Ogilvie) and is a leading cause of many life-threatening illnesses: “Obesity is recognized as a major and rapidly worsening public health problem that rivals smoking as a cause of illness and premature death. Obesity has been linked with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, gallbladder disease, some forms of cancer, osteoarthritis,
Tovar, A., Chui, K., Hyatt, R., Kuder, J., Kraak, V., Choumenkovitch, S., & ... Economos, C. (2012). Healthy-lifestyle behaviors associated with overweight and obesity in US rural children. BMC Pediatrics, 12102. doi:10.1186/1471-2431-12-102
This Neighbourhood Study aims to examine the demographics of Hillingdon Primary Care Trust (HPCT) such as age, gender, ethnicity, social groups in relation to the prevention of obesity. An insight into the prevalence of obesity as well as the causes and its effects shall be evaluated. Public health strategies regarding the prevention of obesity and its effects in comparison to Government strategies shall be addressed. The nurse’s role as an educator in relation to this public health issue, strategies formulated by HPCT to prevent obesity and how it focuses on other diseases associated with obesity shall be discussed. The following section gives a definition of obesity, health education and health prevention.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, Vol. 78, No. 2, pp. 113-117 27. No.
“Health is the state of complete physical, mental, social and intellectual well-beings not merely an absence of disease”(WHO,1998).Good health is essential in life as people’s career will be affected if they fall ill.. In the developed countries like Australia, People who are not involved in the healthy lifestyle are suffering from a range of health disorders like overweight, high blood pressure, obese, heart diseases, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, kidney problems, liver disorders and so many. To overcome these health issues Australian government introduced health care system. This essay will firstly, discuss the Australian health care system and secondly, compare Australia with other countries around the world in relation to different consideration on health.
Throughout the video series “The Weight of the Nation” obesity is addressed several times, including how it as a disease has affected our economy for the worse. Although obesity has not drastically affected the states with higher income, those who live in states with lower income tend to be more negatively affected. In the first part of the video series, there was a study done by researchers in Tennessee proving that people with lower incomes are more negatively affected and prone to the disease of obesity. “If we don’t take on strategies that affect how the low income community is dealing with the obesity epidemic, we’re going to see this phenomenon across our society in a relatively short period of time.”
Overweight and obesity problem is becoming more and more serious in Australia. Not only Australians but also the world’s problem obesity is studied as one of the main causes of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and some cancers and sleep apnoea as well as other serious conditions, which put national economies and individual lives at risk. Obesity is also regarded as epidemic. Obesity is caused by a calorific imbalance between diet intake and consumed calories. Obesity has become the biggest threat to Public Health in Australia shown by Australia Bureau of Statistics (2013). Also, the prevalence of obesity is predicted as the ratio of obesity in adults and children will be doubled by 2025 (Backholer et al.2012). It is believed that this phenomenon is happening due to many social determinants of health, which have a strong negative impact on not only individuals but also society and economy. (Wilkinson and Marmot 2003) The social determinants of health are explained as conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age by WHO (Wilkinson & Marmot 2013). Different circumstances can be formed depending on their finance, power and global resources. These social determinants seem to be responsible for health inequities, which seem to be unfair and avoidable. Social determinants of health including social gradient, high calorie food intake, excessive amounts of stress and poor early life care are the relevant factors to contribute to be or being obesity. It is important to understand that the correlation of social determinants of health and obesity to manage the health problems and enhance public’s health.
Furthermore, Abdularhman El-Sayed (2010) also argues that the real reason for the obesity epidemic is down to poverty and cheap food. He describes a study conducted by one university of Glasgow which found that deprived neighbourhoods are twice as likely of becoming obese compare to residents in more affluent neighbourhoods, (El-Sayed 2010).
Over 60 million people are obese in the world today. The socioeconomic statuses of the Americans play a major part in the obesity rates across the country. People with higher incomes are less likely to be obese than people with lower incomes. One in every seven preschool-aged children living in lower income areas are obese (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). A 2008 study showed that obesity is highest among American Indian and Alaska Native (21.2 percent) and Hispanic Americans (18.5 percent) children, and it is lowest among white (12.6 percent), Asian or Pacific Islander (12.3 percent), and black (11.8 percent) children (Get America Fit).
Since 1970, the obesity rates in America have more than doubled. Currently two-thirds of (roughly 150 million) adults in the United States are either overweight, or obese (Food Research and Action Center). According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 whereas obesity is defined as a BMI greater than 30.” There are numerous factors that contribute to obesity such as: biological, behavioral and cultural influences (Food Research and Action Center). While these factors all have a large role in obesity, there is no factor with as great of an influence as poverty.
This public health issue does not only effect individuals but the national as a whole in regards to the health care system costs. Obesity in children "costs the health care system $14 billion per year, much which comes from public funds" (Glanz, 2008). Also, obesity is expected to cause 112,000 deaths per year in the United States(Gollust, 2014). In addition, many changes seen in the health care sy...
The government must have a say in our diets. Because the issues of obesity have already reached national scales, because the costs of obesity and related health issues have gone far beyond reasonable limits, and because fighting nutritional issues is impossible without fighting poverty and other social issues, the government should control the range and the amount of available foods. The cost of healthier foods should decrease. The access to harmful foods should be limited. In this way, the government will be able to initiate a major shift in nutritional behaviors and attitudes in society.
In Australia in the last ten years more then 137 known people have died and many more fallen very ill from contagious and infectious disease. Diseases such as diphtheria; tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, measles, mumps rubella and Haemophilus influenzae, This is a great tragedy considering all these diseases are easily preventable by immunisation.
prevalence’s among developed countries, with over 12 million, out of an approximate 23 million, Australians either overweight or obese (Colagiuri et al, 2010; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2013; Crockett, 2014). The number of obese Australians has risen significantly over the past 25 years and is continuing to grow (Walls et al, 2012; Hawley, Dunstan & Travis, 2008). The predominance of obesity within Australia can be attributed to lifestyle behaviours and environmental factors, including sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, geographic location and socioeconomic status (Hawley et al, 2008; Australian Bureau of Statistics a, (ABS a), 2011). Obesity is an important health issue in Australia creating a major burden on health-care, society and the government due to financial costs, both direct and indirect, and the incidence of chronic diseases associated with excess weight (Walls et al, 2012; Colagiuri et al, 2010; ABS a, 2013). The threats that the rising rate of obesity is posing on our nation are what is making obesity the principal health issue in Australia at this current point in time.