Capstone Of Nutrition Science Essay Sample

Disease, Food Choices and Optimized Health

Some of the main health issues that affect the community right now are obesity, overweight, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, gall-bladder diseases, high cholesterol, heart disease, insomnia and stroke among others. The most damaging one is obesity, as it is responsible for most of these other diseases that currently affect the population. Studies show that approximately 400 million adults are expected to become obese by this year (2015).
Obesity has become a pandemic which needs a preventative approach that is oriented by public health, as the treatment of such a disease is oftentimes not successful for the long term. The consequences of being obese are negative and can only be partially reversed. Many people have been known to achieve success in their weight loss efforts, only to regain the weight after a few months, years or even weeks.
The preventable approach should not necessarily be aimed at losing weight, but the management of an individual’s weight and the maintenance thereof. It should also be centered on preventing weigh gain among the people who are not obese as yet. The approach is supposed to endorse increased physical activity and a healthy nutrition, in order to shift the individual’s body mass index (BMI) to a lower level (Campos, 2005).
Improving health and fitness levels, in addition to weight management and proper nutrition, can result in an increased mortality rate and a better quality of life for such individuals. The addition of a fitness regiment, along with proper nutrition, can go a long way in determining the successful outcome for someone who is currently obese. The moderate ingestion of food plays a vital role in any nutritional or weight loss plan, as well as the optimization of one’s health. It contributes the energy and strength that an individual needs to carry out their daily activities.
Managing the caloric intake with the amount of calories that the body uses on a daily basis is one way to maintain control of the weight, prevent diseases and optimize one’s health. The diseases that can be caused by obesity are the main focus of health organizations worldwide. It is estimated that every country, whether low or high income, experience obesity on an increasing level.
This disease is said to pose a serious threat to the public’s health and well-being. Medical experts have gone a step further and predicted that an increased BMI can stop, or even reverse life expectancy for humans (European Journal on Public Health). As a way to respond to these concerns, agencies responsible for public health worldwide have begun to take action by searching for incentives, or policies, to minimize this so-called disease.
In order to alleviate the threat of the diseases that are said to be brought on by obesity, such as diabetes, stroke, hypertension and other such diseases, individuals should get more knowledgeable and try to find ways to prevent obesity, instead of having to cope with these sometimes debilitating diseases after the fact. Making the necessary changes to one’s lifestyle and nutrition and implementing changes to the level of physical activities that is now done and try as best as one can, to live a healthy, physically fit life, can help to extend that person’s life and allow them to enjoy a better quality of life.

References

Campos, P. (2005). The epidemiology of overweight and obesity: public health crisis or moral panic?. International Journal Of Epidemiology, 35(1), 55-60. doi:10.1093/ije/dyi254
European Journal Of Public Health. (1995). The European Journal Of Public Health, 5(4), 570-571. doi:10.1093/eurpub/5.4.231