Responding

Tactics to promote healthy lifestyles within a community are bringing awareness and prevention opportunities for families and individuals who acknowledged the risk factors of certain obesity formation. Individual or family adapted health behavior changes, prompts to encourage walking paths, trails, or public organizations that encourage healthy lifestyle such as the YMCA , enhanced school-based physical education with nutrition promotion and media campaigns that deliver the messages by television, social media, newspaper or radio are strong community strategies that can address the obesity epidemic today.

            We as nurses can act as role models by educating the public on nutrition and obesity related problems.  A healthy diet is a key component to reducing weight gain and overall health. As a community health nurse, the opportunity to closely work with people in providing education and healthier choices that help people feel they have options for nutrition can be seen as a personal counselor to develop goals and a plan for positive achievement. A form of exercise to complement the healthy diet can be applied by giving support to help individuals identify a safe and effective activity plan that they will stick to with encouragement to use public outlets. The community nurse can promote change by explaining the risk factors that cause obesity and provide more scientific elements of the health issue. By opening communication through means of community boards, social media, and leaflets or presentations in public areas such as YMCA or Health Department interest can be supported by explaining change does not have to be drastic or scary and prevention begins with self-management. Youth can be reached with after school programs that explain the fad/crash diets. Activity for youth can be encouraged by providing exercise projects after school such as the YMCA basketball or volleyball competitions. Once proper information and support is achieved the goal of personal investment with community involvement can bring about positive results in battling obesity.