The Journal for Nurse Practitioners
Volume 5, Issue 8 , Page 557, September 2009

What Can NPs Do To Help Control Obesity?

Article Outline

 

Throughout the year, we have focused attention on obesity through some of the articles and columns we have presented. Obesity is a problem whose resolution NPs need to embrace because a CDC study1 showed:

•Obesity prevalence has continued to increase during much of the past 2 decades.

•There are disparities in prevalence of obesity, particularly among racial/ethnic populations and by education level.

•Disparities might reflect differences in knowledge and behavior related to diet and physical activity.

•Disparities might also reflect differences in environmental supports for these behaviors, such as access to places for physical activity (eg, local parks or recreation facilities) or access to healthier food options (eg, selection at local groceries).

The prevalence for obesity varies throughout the United States. To describe obesity in stark numbers, by region, the prevalence of obesity was highest in the South (27.3%) and Midwest (26.5%) and lowest in the Northeast (24.4%) and West (23.1 %). Obesity prevalence among the states ranged from 18.7% to 32.0% of the population and was less than 20% in only one state—Colorado. Obesity prevalence was more than 30% in 3 states: Alabama (30.3%), Mississippi (32.0%), and Tennessee (30.1 %). Unfortunately, no state met the Healthy People 2010 target of 15%, and 30 states had obesity prevalence of 25% or more.2

The CDC has an office in every state and conducts obesity prevention programs and activities with a wide range of partners. I urge you to attend some of these programs and become a community representative to help develop interventions that promote environmental and policy changes to help encourage healthful nutrition and physical activity. The CDC can share examples of many types of programs that can help make changes in the environment that will lead to better health: increasing access to healthier foods through farmers' markets, community gardens, and local groceries; altering roads and sidewalks to make them safer and more accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists; creating or enhancing access to physical activity through parks, trails, or community fitness trails.2 NPs can also create walking clubs to help provide social support for physical activity.

The CDC also works with employers and worksite health experts to translate evidence-based recommendations on worksite interventions for preventing obesity into good business practices. If you work in occupational health, use these CDC resources to help convince your employers that the initiation and maintenance of wellness programs, especially those that promote weight management, are cost-effective measures. Take the initiative to help provide guidance for the creation, expansion, or customization of worksite obesity programs.

NPs and our focus on wellness and treating the whole person should be part of the solution to this obesity problem.

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References 

  1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services  . The Surgeon General's call to action to prevent and decrease obesity . Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, US Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General; 2001; Available at: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity Accessed June 20, 2009.
  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  . State-specific prevalence of obesity among adults—United States, 2005 . MMWR . 2006;55:985–988

PII: S1555-4155(09)00418-8

doi:10.1016/j.nurpra.2009.07.006

The Journal for Nurse Practitioners
Volume 5, Issue 8 , Page 557, September 2009

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