Obesity is a rising epidemic in the United States, leading to significant health complications like hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and cancers. Overweight and obesity are often have detrimental effects on physical and psychological health (Gray et al., 2018). The picture used for this post illustrates that obesity is a global threat, just like global warming and bird flu, but it far outweighs the two. This picture, in many aspects, demonstrates the epidemic proportion of obesity.

In Massachusetts, where I reside, more than 50 % of adults and 1 in 4 middle and high school students are obese or overweight; less than half of adults and children are not eating the recommended five or more servings of vegetables and fruits (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, n.d.). 83,000 residents between the ages of 4 and 17 were recorded as obese, giving Massachusetts a ranking of 25 out of 51 for this age group among all states. However, from the year 2000 to 2014, the obesity rate between 2- to 4-year-old reduced from 17.1% to 16.6%, ranking 6/51. The same decline has been reported in teenagers (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, n.d.).

Health disparities contribute to health inequity, and as soon as some of the disparities are reduced, health equity can be achieved. Various health disparities impact the obesity rates in the country and the state of Massachusetts in particular. One of these health disparities is racial disparity. African American children gain a more rapid weight when they are younger compared to white children. According to Byrd et al. (2018), one of the groups at significant risk is African Americans, especially women who have a higher prevalence than men. Another health disparity that has led to community-related obesity is income and/or wealth status. Individuals from low-income households have a higher risk of obesity than those from medium to high-income households.

Obesity is a global health threat that remains a priority even during the global pandemic that is the novel COVID-19 virus. In fact, obesity is listed as one of the primary health risks related to severe complications of Covid-19. Obesity disproportionally affects low-income racial-ethnic minorities at a higher rate than any other group. As Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, we should strive to optimize behavioral and lifestyle interventions, pharmacologic therapy, nutrition, and access to care to include bariatric surgery if needed to benefit the affected population and decrease the prevalence of obesity.

Byrd, A. S., Toth, A., & Stanford, F. (2018). Racial Disparities in Obesity Treatment. Current Obesity Reports, 7(2), 130-138.

Gray, L. A., Hernandez Alava, M., Kelly, M. P., & Campbell, M. J. (2018). Family lifestyle dynamics and childhood obesity: evidence from the millennium cohort study. BMC Public Health, 18(1). 

Massachusetts Obesity Statistics. (n.d.). Mass.gov.

Value: 100 points

Due: Initial post by Day 3, Response by Day 7

Grading Category: Discussions

Introduction

Obesity in the United States occurs at a greater prevalence than in other developed nations. Why is this? As part of Healthy People Initiatives, obesity has been highlighted in hundreds of articles and webinars. Many preventive guidelines address obesity and nutritional status, and the USPSTF (United States Preventive Services Task Force) guidelines specifically recommend a multidisciplinary approach and a plea to save our children.

Additional resources to enhance your knowledge about obesity in the United States are available in this week’s Learning Materials section but pay close attention to Jamie Oliver’s TED Talk: Teach Every Child about Food.

In 2018, the United States Federal government spent nearly $1.1 trillion dollars on healthcare, and 10% of this money ($110 billion) was utilized to combat obesity driven concerns. Children cannot recognize vegetables or fruits but are quick to tell you what’s in a Happy Meal and can pick the different French fries from various fast-food restaurants. American parents since the Great Depression, and before, have wanted to provide for their children, giving them more than what they had, and now we have given our children a shorter life span – 10 years less.

As APRNs, we must be aware of what is happening in society and how this affects our health as a country. For this week’s discussion, develop a powerful message that can be given to your community. NO sounds, NO words; just a strong visual message that addresses our need to combat obesity.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource

Initial Post

For your initial post, present a visual picture that reflects the state of obesity in our country. Consider: If a photo is worth a thousand words, then a photo on obesity must be worth a thousand pounds. So, ask yourself, how do we drive home the need for change? How do we show the price our children are paying?

The written part of your discussion post should include:

• A brief explanation, three to four sentences, of your visual submission.
• Using statistical data, your home state’s data related to obesity and how your state fairs compared to national statistics.
• The type of health disparities you see in your own community related to obesity.
• Remember to provide at least three scholarly references to support your statements and provide validity to your work.

Reply Posts

Reply to at least two of your classmates that live in different states (replies must be on two separate days). Compare and contrast your state’s obesity data to theirs and discuss obesity preventive guidelines in one reply and healthy dietary recommendations in your second reply. Replies must use at least two scholarly references per peer post.

Please refer to the for details on how this activity will be graded.

Posting to the Discussion Forum

1. Select the appropriate Thread.
2. Select Reply.
3. Create your post.
4. Select Post to Forum.

Discussion Question Rubric

Note: Scholarly resources are defined as evidence-based practice, peer-reviewed journals; textbook (do not rely solely on your textbook as a reference); and National Standard Guidelines. Review assignment instructions, as this will provide any additional requirements that are not specifically listed on the rubric.

Note: The value of each of the criterion on this rubric represents a point range. (example: 17-0 points)