Obesity is exemplified by the excessive accumulation of fats in the body, leading to increased health issues and reduced life expectancy. Often, this medical condition is a risk factor for a number of other critical diseases and these includes cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer and Type 2 diabetes. Among the most common cause of the medical condition include physical inactivity, excess food energy intake and genetic susceptibility.
Within the American society, CDC (2015) indicated that at least 35 percent of the adult population, from 20 years, is overweight. While this is the case, the incidence of obesity among children and teenagers is also high. Of the overweight adult population, 11 percent is obese. Additionally, it has been documented that obesity is the fifth leading cause of death the US CDC (2015). At least 200,000 people die each year as a result of overweight or obesity CDC (2015).
Impacts of obesity
There are several impacts of obesity on health care. These can be classified under legal, ethical and economic impacts. One of the most essential legal impacts is that several health care facilities are sued for failing to prevent deaths as a result of obesity (Panel, 2008). Where an overweight or obesity patient dies while undergoing treatment in hospital, some families tend to believe that it was due to the physicians. It is a common belief that obesity is an easily treatable disease. Therefore, when a patient is put under medical, families often expect that he or she will get well. If death occurs, the family often believes that the physicians compromised their duties and therefore, opts for litigation (Panel, 2008).
With the number of diabetic and overweight cases increasing and the rising costs of treatment, there is a growing emphasis on prevention as the most appropriate way of controlling the health burdens associated with the disease. Contemporarily, commercial testing for predicting an individual’s risk of obesity has been introduced (Panel, 2008). However, there are several ethical issues that have been associated with commercial testing, among them being false results and the exercise being undertaken by unwarranted parties.
There are also economic impacts on health care. As such, the number of obesity and overweight cases has increased. Therefore, health cares have to spend more on treating or preventing the medical condition that they do with respect to other diseases (Panel, 2008). This, as a result, has increased death incidence as a result from other diseases and has also contributed towards the growing cases of litigation.
Intervention
Primary intervention
An important primary intervention would be to educate people on the importance of regular physical exercises and the use of the proper diet. For instance, people can be advised to choose minimally processed whole foods such as whole grain, whole fruits, plant oils, vegetables, and nuts, beans, and seeds (Panel, 2008). They should be advice to reduce their intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, refined grains, and red meat. Besides, the public should be educated on the level or the amount that they ought to eat.
Secondary Intervention
A possible secondary intervention would be to check any patient that visits a health facility for any signs of obesity. Several tests and screening such as cholesterol level testing and screening for the amount of sugar (Panel, 2008). Where a symptom is detected, a patient should be advised on what he or she should do including performing physical exercises. Besides, the patient should be provided with prescription drugs in order to prevent the disease from taking place.
Tertiary intervention
A good tertiary intervention is surgery. Panel (2008) indicated that in patients with morbid obesity especially that linked with comorbidities, the only option is bariatric surgery coupled with clinical and relative sustained weight loss. Panel (2008) added that a well performed bariatric surgery ameliorates the morbidities linked with chronic obesity. However, this should be performed in carefully selected obesity patients and there should be an essentially good multidisciplinary support team.
- CDC (2015). Overweight & Obesity. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/
- Panel, N. (2008). Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults. Obesity, 16(10), 2323-2330.
