Over the past century, the advancement of technology has enabled the entire world to mitigate the detrimental effects of infectious diseases. Stakeholders in the health industry predict that in the next few decades, medical advancements and innovation will lead to the extinction of some of these illnesses. However, this disappearance may coincide with the emergence of new types depending on a country’s transition in handling epidemiologic factors.
Non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease emerge across various countries across the world, establishing themselves at very high proportions. The underlying condition confounding the emergence of these diseases is obesity, which largely contributes to the health care burden in disability and illness. Obesity elevates the risk associated with a majority of these life-threatening chronic diseases because it leads to the accumulation of excess fat around the abdominal region, leading to complications such as heart disease. In light of the dire situation posed by obesity, there warrants a discussion of the viable solutions that may potentially solve or prevent the problems it poses.
The worldwide prevalence of obesity is expanding at an alarming rate and reaching disturbing proportions. This prevalence seems to cut across all demographics, with the obesity rates observed in adults just as elevated in children. “Obesity is not exclusive to those with higher socioeconomic status since overweight rates tend to increase uniformly among emerging economies as they experience economic growth” (Courtemanche 1282). Developing practical solutions to obesity requires a detailed understanding of the factors that contribute to the obesity epidemic in the first place. Environmental factors are predominant in obesity cases.
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Biologically, genes determine an individual’s susceptibility to gain weight and thus become obese. The expression of these genes requires a confluence with societal changes, which happen to exacerbate the problem. “Across the world, societies are increasingly consuming diets saturated with fats and concentrated sugars” (Hales et al. 1723). The global economy has also eased the process of acquiring vegetable oils and fats, leading to an overall increase in fat consumption. “Economic prosperity has enabled large sections of the population to lead sedentary lifestyles deprived of physically demanding occupations in agriculture and industry” (Courtemanche 1260).
Cumulatively, these factors have helped compound the worldwide epidemic of obesity.
The predominant solution touted to solve the problem has its foundations in psychology and behavioral therapy. Treatment of obesity through the behavioral approach seems to be particularly useful for children, even showing excellent results for the severely obese. “The behavioral approach has components of goal setting, self-monitoring, and intervention targets as well as individual and group sessions” (Olson 21).
The behavioral approach tends to draw from a solid foundation of cognitive theory because incorporating elements of both strategies tend to be very effective. For instance, the goal setting approach initiates a low level of personal involvement by specifying small changes such as reducing television viewing by 30 minutes or merely engaging in 15 minutes of physical activity. “Setting small, easy to attain goals evokes a sense of self-efficacy, making children show commitment to the program” (Olson 22). These components focus on positively reinforcing weight loss behavior as a weight control and maintenance technique for children.
Positive reinforcement of weight loss behaviors yields sustainable outcomes compared to negative reinforcement, which guarantees results but becomes unsustainable in the absence of supervision. “Reinforcing weight loss behaviors facilitates the introduction of specific dietary and physical activity components into behavioral therapy” (Olson, 22). Additionally, this approach seeks to pinpoint and investigate some of the environmental and psychosocial factors that influence behavioral shifts in children.
Pharmacologic interventions and surgical treatments have proved their viability as potential solutions to obesity.
These treatments tend to be particularly useful when handling cases of severe obesity in children. “Conversely, many experts express their aversion to the possibility of applying the same procedure to adults due to the adverse effects that it produces” (Brauer 184). The process of recommending these types of treatments necessitates an initial comparison of the pharmacologic agents while considering their off-label applications. “A comparison between the pharmacologic and surgical interventions yields insights into the efficacy of these treatments, mainly when they occur in isolation or when combined with behavioral approaches” (Olson 22).
“There is potential for optimizing the effectiveness of these techniques when applying them in combination with behavioral therapy because this ensures the safety of surgical operations and pharmacologic treatment” (Hales et al. 1723). Assessment of these factors culminates in a stepped approach initially tested within clinical settings before shifting the application to settings with linkages to the community and access to primary care. The main determinants of the suitability of these interventions are an individual’s value system, personal preferences, and support network of friends and family.
The major drawback of the pharmacologic intervention to obesity is that it is not recommendable for adults. Research findings strongly advise practitioners against this therapy mainly administered in the form of orlistat or metformin to target weight loss, despite meta-analysis of the two drugs showing excellent results in reducing cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure. “Participants in the test trials for the pharmacologic intervention showed reductions in weight, lower BMI, and reduced waist circumference” (Brauer 184). During these trials, concerns arose regarding routinely using this form of treatment in weight management and obesity. “Study subjects in the trial had a higher likelihood of experiencing adverse effects and gastrointestinal complications among other ailments compared to the control group for the study” (Brauer 184).
Optimizing the efficacy of pharmacologic interventions necessitates combining them with other obesity treatments. “For instance, physicians recommend using the intervention alongside behavioral approaches for individuals who are highly susceptible to contracting diabetes“ (Brauer 185). Consequently, those show exhibit high motivational efforts to achieve their weight loss may also explore this combined strategy because they show less concern about the potential detrimental effects.
Practitioners are increasingly becoming wary of the factors constraining optimal participation in interventions targeting weight management. These barriers include aspects such as imposing unrealistic expectations, hunger, sociocultural factors, and insufficient knowledge. “Tackling the obesity problem often requires long-term solutions that need lengthy periods of implementation to yield positive results” (Teixeira 84). Stigmatizing events of the past compound any existing environmental and psychological factors directly. Those patients who fail to achieve any success after pursuing behavioral interventions tend to benefit from shifting their focus towards implementing positive lifestyle alterations. “These changes promote a drastic shift that encourages incorporating physical activity into their lives while attempting prevention techniques against weight-gain” (Brauer 191).
At the national level, interventions to alleviate the obesity problem adopt a multifaceted approach that covers areas such as media, educational sites, healthcare service, worksites, and at the community-level engagement. “Although the strategies may differ in intensity and coverage, they all converge on creating impact outcomes” (Hales et al. 1724). They address issues of dietary habits and immediate causes while proposing policies and providing links between sectors previously perceived as independent.
Despite these underlying barriers, this investigation of drawbacks has helped practitioners reach a consensus on the set of features that characterize an effective obesity intervention. “Obesity programs that produce excellent results tend to be heterogeneous in the mandatory specifications of duration, format, and discipline” (Brauer 191). Programs with high levels of efficacy tend to last for a period that consistently ensures for at least 12 months with the inclusion of dietary limitations along with exercise components that include group sessions. “Overall, these interventions tend to be appropriate for those patients who express a willingness to attempt substantial lifestyle alterations” (Brauer 191). Proper implementation of these interventions results in 2.1 kg mean weight loss in a 12-month period, which is an excellent outcome.
The scholarly analysis reveals that advancements in medical technology have assisted the plight of public healthcare in eliminating some infectious diseases from the face of the earth. However, the extinction of some infectious has been offset by the emergence of non-communicable diseases such as osteoporosis, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. The rise of these diseases has coincided with a prevalence of obesity in high proportions across the world. Obesity directly results from a combination of biological and economic factors that drive its prevalence.
The predominant strategy adopted to solve the obesity problem is the behavioral approach, which uses positive reinforcement to encourage habits that lead to weight loss. Pharmacologic and surgical procedures are alternative treatments, which produce excellent results in children but lead to a myriad of complications in adults. Research has availed a set of features that practitioners believe characterize effective programs. Overall, with the right level of commitment to weight loss schedules, individuals and societies possess the tools necessary to alleviate the problem of obesity.
