Prevention of Obesity

B1. Community Health Nursing Diagnostic Statement

My selected primary prevention topic is dealing with overweight and obesity among the youth through healthy nutrition, making the right food choices, and physical activity in the city of Seattle. Seattle is a seaport city that is found on the west coast of the United States. The city is based in King County of the State of Washington. According to the 2018 census, the city has an estimated population of 744,955 residents. Seattle is also the largest city in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region in North America. The metropolitan area of Seattle’s population stands at 3.94 million and is ranked the 15th largest in the city in the United States. According to the 2016 data, Seattle is ranked as the top 5 fastest growing cities in the United States, with an annual growth of 3.1 %. The city has mixed races, with the majority being the native Indians and the white Americans (Seattle, Washington Population 2019, 2009). The problem of obesity among the youth is a growing one, and the city of Seattle is not left out. According to new data from the National Survey of children’s health, 4.8 million children aged 10-17 are reported to have obesity (Stateofchildhoodobesity, 2019). Among the leading factors for the rising number of obese youth is the choice of food and lack of exercise. In a study done in Seattle, it was found that having a food or grocery store in the immediate neighborhood would often affect the special diet where people that live in low-income areas or those living in minority communities will have limited access to full service of a food store that sells health foods. The same studies were also done in Philadelphia, Detroit, and New Orleans (Drewnowski et al., 2016): these are areas that are often characterized by poor housing, racial differences, and inadequate food supply.

The main course for concern regarding obesity is the growing direct costs of childhood obesity in the country where it is estimated that about $14.3 billion is used each year to treat obesity cases. Also there are the immediate costs, where current childhood obesity cases means that there are going to be more direct costs in the future if the issue of overweight children and adolescents are allowed to continue living a lifestyle that will make them more obese adults. This will eventually lead to health and economic burden due to high rates of obesity in the country.

a. Current Primary Community and Prevention Resources

Currently, Seattle city uses various programs to promote a healthy lifestyle. There are various community programs that ensure the youth remain active and stay out of problems. For example, there is the YMCA youth community, which has established a resource center that discusses various challenges facing the youth like drug and alcohol prevention, youth empowerment, physical activities, and skills development. The YMCA is exciting as it provides the youth with an environment that ensures the embrace good choices about life and how to lead a healthy and fulfilling life. During my time at the YMCA have been overseeing all the Group fitness classes and disease prevention programs. There is a program for the kids with a referral from their Dr. called ACT! The program offers a lot for the youth including cooking class and swimming for the youth also during summer there was a farmers market in the lobby. Other primary prevention resources include leaflets, school exercises programs, personal discipline in regarding to diet and controlling meal times in both schools and youth institutions. Apart from this, there is a health and wellness program that teaches the community about various health choices, including positive dieting and exercises, among other factors, affect health promotion. This program is essential in reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the community and increasing knowledge on healthy diet choices and living within the community context.

b.) Underlying causes

There is a low population of individual’s healthy meat diets like seafood, quality meat, fruits, and vegetables. Also, in many cases, people tend to select diet regarding convenience. That is why there is a high population of individuals taking fast food and food with added sugar and fats (Drewnowski et al., 2016). This was evident from the finding were the social-economic and cultural aspects were represented by different food and retail store, including food composition and prices. The monetary value of the residents was also estimated using the price tag on each food item where a column of food and prices were analyzed. The underlying aspect in this area is that the diet intake of food was not determined by health but by convenience and price (Bleich, 2013). This means that for the prevention of diabetes to be realized in the area, there is a need for the food department to ensure that diet food is sold in at affordable prices. It is important for the public health department to discuss the cost of a healthy food diet and make it affordable for the higher population.

B2. Evidence-Based Practice

Being able to get the message across to young people nowadays can be a difficult task. This campaign makes use of evidence-based practice secondary journal and field research that was done to assess the choices of food and analysis of food outlets present in the communities of Seattle city. The campaign also entailed giving school-aged children by looking at food choices and physical activity they are engaged in. According to the Evidence-based literature carried out in Seattle regarding obesity and access to healthy foods, there is actually very limited data regarding were individuals go shopping for food, and in most cases, it is assumed that food shopping is often done within the immediate neighborhood. A lot of studies regarding the food environment health can also be able to link the density of supermarkets and fast-food restaurants in a given area with the measure of different forms of diet and the health of the people living in the said area (Kopelman, 2009). According to a personal field survey done among the Seattle food outlets, it is evident that the density of fast-food restaurants or supermarkets in a provided area is also related to the type of diet and health in the same area.

In this study, using a street network, the researcher was able to calculate the distance between the nearest supermarkets and the homes of participants. From the field experience, it was found that the physical distance between the people’s residence and the nearest grocery store, fast food, or supermarket was also related to healthy eating and lower body mass index, which also translated to lower cases of obesity in the region. In this investigation, it was established that there is a lot of local food sourcing done with neighborhoods, and this could affect the eating behaviors of individuals who may not get access to healthy food. This also means that the nearest food outlet is the primary determinant of healthy food intake (Kopelman, 2009). For example, in this research, it was found that groceries offered healthy foods that include fresh farm produce at affordable prices. However, the prices in the supermarkets would vary in regard to different store chains, including demographics and quality of food.

It is evident that the distance from food outlets affected health food intake. The study was carried in Seattle also reveals that the physical proximity to food outlets is a significant determinant of healthy food intake and obesity. In most cases also found that people usually shop by car, meaning they would prefer fast food stores more than walking in the grocery to fetch health food. According to a study done in Lucky Food Mart, the food store is known to sell food items in addition to a different variety of soft drinks, chips, and many non-healthy foods. According to the study, about 50% of the people who enter the food store would come out with foods that they had not intended to pick themselves. Also, in a study done at SARS, it was found that 60% of the customers would order hot grilled food, and around 50% of these customers would also go for two soft drinks after that (Osayomi & Orhiere, 2017). For most people, they look at the convenience of the food and not the health aspects. For some of the respondents, they often find bringing lunch from home as being time-consuming and are tied to cook from home at the end of the day. Also, in a study done at Apna Frooticana, the situation was different as many people who visited the area bought fresh produce, also bought beans, lentils, and more.

C1. Social Media Campaign Strategy

The main challenge for the Seattle city is the availability of healthy food choices within the local markets and the local grocery stores. By providing the right incentives to the local businesses, it will be possible for us to increase the general health and nutritional status of the community. With the target population being the youth and know that this population continues to rise, it is essential to ensure that they are connected and incorporated in the solution for the city. My major objective for the social media campaign will be to ensure that I have come up with an incentive plan and the implementation plant in the coming five years that will see a reduction of young people with obesity in the next five years within Seattle city by at least 50%.

C2. Social Media Campaign Interventions

My first campaign interventions are going to be to come up with a healthy eating program for the youth in the community so they can get accepted to my proposed program in various towns within the city of Seattle. The program is going to incorporate various bilingual information card that is going to provide information regarding the markets and grocery stores within the different districts and the deals which are offered in the city each day of the week. The card will also have a second use like a punch card where when it is produced and punched out; it will be in a better position to give a child the pass to a free fruit of their choice when they have performed all the punches. My second intervention will entail producing a black and white flyer, which will be printed each month and handed out during the homeroom attendance time in each of the school districts. The flyer will carry with it data regarding all the school districts and will be proof that the school is participating with local free advertising for all the health stores and markets as part of the incentive program.

C3. Social Media Platforms

Most institutions in Seattle have their digital bulletin, which the youth produce and is comprised of day to day news on local activities. The digital bulleting was selected as this is the best way to reach out to many youth as nowadays the social media and use of smartphone technology is common, meaning reaching out through the digital bulleting will ensure the audience is huge. By making use of this platform and incorporating with the flyer that will be given out each week is going to ensure that the youth find ownership and give them the ability to inform one another on the relevance of having a well-balanced diet meal with increased activities as a way of reducing or maintain the required weight.

C4. Benefit to the Target Population

The selected social media platform has a lot of benefits which include the fact that it is less costly, it is done on real-time basis and can reach a huge audience at once. Also due to the fact that the target population for this program is youth the selected social media will enable me inform the youth about my campaign and educate them on the use, I will utilize my weekly punch card and the month promotional flyer, including the YMCA digital bulleting, to come up with a sense of community for the youth of Seattle city. Studies have shown that youth tend to benefit when they accept a particular program, which is encouraged by their peers. The aspect of peer pressure can actually work positively when it directs the school districts and youth organizations like the YMCA to increase the overall health of young people. Being able to make the campaign more specific to the youth communities, it will provide them with a sense of localization and teamwork. Each team will then be in a position to excel in the promotion of health in their team as compared to other school districts like competitive sports.

D. Social Media Campaign Best Practices

Among the three best practices when it comes to delivery of a good social media campaign are: Establishing consistency in the presentation, defining one's population and engagement, or interacting. First, in this campaign, I am going to determine who we are going to reach out to, for this campaign, my target is the community youth especially those between ages 11-14 and those that are part of the YMCA community. Second, to have a good campaign, it is important to ensure that the information delivered is consistent. For my campaign, I am going to establish a standardized format across all the youth community. I will distribute punch cards that will contain information regarding the local markets and stores which provide healthy food options. In addition to the punch card, I am also going to ensure a monthly digital bulletin segment in each of the participating youth that provides updates on ways that not only the YMCA youth is doing with respect to other youth in the whole city. There will be information like the questionnaire results, quarterly health screening that is going to be discussed, and updates provided each month. The final best practice for a productive campaign is going to entail engaging and interacting. By ensuring students have created and compiled information in regard to a monthly digital bulletin, we shall ensure that we have the YMCA and youth communities take ownership and display the achievement of their work. A fresh fruit punch is also going to ensure that there is engagement with the youth and establish physical proof of their activities.

E. Social Media Campaign Implementation Plan

E.1 Stakeholders Roles and Responsibilities

In this campaign, my selected stakeholders are going to be individual learning institutions, school districts, local store owners, and the YMCA's designated project managers that are responsible for the management of incentive programs with respect to the local grocers. The responsibility of the YMCA project manager will be to coordinate the funds required so as to incentivize the sale of fresh fruit among the youth in the community. They are also going to be responsible for the YMCA team during the community campaigns and finding grocers that are interested in participating in the program. The local store owners are also going to be responsible for advertisement in their local area where fresh farm produce is available and the reduced prices for which they will do to ensure the campaign is successful. This group is also going to be responsible for the placement of premium food choices by reducing the choices for poor food items in low traffic areas. Individual learning institutions are going to be responsible for the dissemination of health information to local youth through the monthly digital bulleting updates and implementation of nutritional challenges at a local level.

E.2 Potential Public Private Partnership

In the city of Seattle, there are many partnerships that I will form. For example, there are the local grocery and food stores that are going to become my primary partners; however, I will also look at the fresh food vendors within the city of Seattle that can be utilized. There are also a number of good farmers, producers, and growers that are located in the city of Seattle, where I can leverage on such a relationship as it would also be helpful in establishing a symbiotic relationship that is going to provide me with both a commercial and community benefit. These partners will help in providing education about health foods, where to find them and different prices. They are also going to be helpful in becoming equal participants in pushing the agenda of eating health food items as a replacement for non-healthy food items.

E.3 Implementation Timeline

During the implementation timeline, I interviewed several local food stores, supermarkets, grocers, where I also spent a period of 3 months coming up with a plan that will be implemented thereafter. On day one I conducted an independent assessment and observation of activities with documentation in the file. On the second day henceforth I visited various food mart, food stores, and organic farms including supermarkets and fast food outlets with the objective of making observations of individual food choice. Other activities that I was engaged in included observation, interviews and survey regarding food intake habits and availability of fresh farm produce among the youth. This was important as I needed to find out the frequency of healthy food intake. In total 12 food store, farm produce areas and fast food stores were investigated. As part of launching my social media campaign the first step was to select members and assign them different roles. The group members included colleagues and a team of qualified individuals with experience to ensure the managerial, technical and creative aspects of the social media campaign. The team also included members of the target audience as this would ensure that they understand the objectives of the activity. It is important to get the perspective of the customers and the local residents regarding the issue of healthy food intake in the community. The objective of using the team is to ensure that I have the right team that advised me on the food shop, grocery store and food outlets to visit that I would be able to make the most of my survey. This was to be done in 3 months of which achieved.

E4. Evaluation

The effectiveness of my plan is going to be done through an ongoing assessment on a monthly basis as the plan is initiated. The data compilation is also going to occur each part of the Seattle community as a central repository for the collection of data and analysis. There will be quarterly questionnaires that will be distributed in youth-led organizations and learning institutions asking questions regarding exercise and good diet availability in the school. I will make use of simple metrics like the body mass index from the participants, which will be gathered and compared from the questionnaire information to provide a complete overview of the youth participants.

E. 5 Measurable Tools

Comparing data from prior and the growing out over the recurrent quarterly data points is going to indicate the project's success or failure. By indicating various data points over time, we can be able to come up with a trend that provides an indication of how successful the roles of a good diet and the program for fruits and vegetable is going to be related to the reduced weight of and overall good health for the youth of Seattle.

F.5 Implementation cost

In regard to this campaign, the initial cost is going to entail allowances for the project manager to put together the whole plan. The cost of carrying onsite visits with the local supermarkets, food grocers, producers, growers, YMCA, and learning institutions within the city of Seattle. After the program is set up and started, the maintenance of relationships with the food stores and grocers is going to reduce. The collection of data from the YMCA community, learning institutions is going to be dispersed to each school in a standardized format. The collection of data from each school is also going to be placed to a local repository that all can pull information. The main duties of the project manager are also going to be pushed off to a country-oriented program that could go on a daily basis through front-office communication with YMCA that is a local community program for the youth in Seattle city. This program is also going to be responsible for ensuring premium placement of better choices of food diet by minimizing the poor food choice in high traffic stores. Learning institutions are also going to be responsible for distributing information to the local youth using a monthly digital bulleting update and initiating weekly or quarterly nutritional activities in the schools.

Cost of Implementation

	ITEM	COST (USD)
	Internet and communication	500
	Allowances for Research and survey assistants	2000
	Secretarial costs	1000
	TOTAL	3500

F. Reflection

Throughout this campaign, I feel that it is going to have a huge impact in my practice as a registered nurse since it is evident that by incorporating the target audience in continuum of care and prevention of obesity, they are able to take responsibility in the decisions they make about their health outcomes; this will also see the community participate in the promotion of good health and nutritional practices. I also thing that social media is really helping the nursing practice nowadays especially when it comes to ensuring a ripple effect of issues around public health. Social media is now embedded in Many areas of nursing practice that include reminder of medication, treatment dates, diet intake among other areas that community nurses work with. Through the networks nurses can also share the expertise and experience that can make the practice healthy.

This program helps me inspire people to take care of their health by finding purpose in eating healthy. From this campaign, it is evident that there is a lot of influence of the neighbourhood type in regard to the choice of food outlets, supermarket outlets, property values, and the body mass index of the participants. This could also be related to the social and economic aspects that are strongly linked with diet-related variables. This means that the rates of obesity are the related choice of food intake that the composition of the diet. If the population has access to healthy food, this may lead to a reduction in the number of people with obesity or likely to develop obesity. The prevention of obesity strategies in Seattle currently seems not to recognize the cost of healthier diets as it only looks at income and no other factors related to healthy diets like the convenience and easy access of unhealthy food items in supermarkets and grocery stores.

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