Make a follow-up of a student’s weekly discussion and respond with your opinion regarding to her post

——You don’t have to post this in APA format necessarily, it’s just giving feedback to the student .

Nancy



Pierre

 The United States healthcare system is currently facing a significant issue with obesity, which not only affects adults but also is becoming predominant in children and adolescents. According to Thompson et al. (2023), “22.4% of 2–19-year-old youth have obesity, and 16.1% carry excess body weight, placing them at risk of becoming adults with obesity” (p.1). This obesity crisis tends to affect children living in rural communities and is mainly the result of poverty. Children living in these areas lack access to healthy food choices and access to healthcare. Additionally, education about maintaining a healthy lifestyle and the importance of diet and exercise is lacking (Thompson et al., 2023). Poorly managed weight in childhood will lead to complications like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and mental health issues that can continue to exist even as adults (Thompson et al., 2023). 

                      Education is the answer to help decrease the dangerously growing obesity crisis in the US. Nurse practitioners are primary healthcare providers whose role is to educate the population about healthy lifestyles, exercising,  and the consequences of unhealthy diets. If proper steps are taken by healthcare professionals at the frontline to educate the population, provide support systems, and medication management, the results would be more beneficial and have better outcomes in reducing childhood obesity (Wagner et al., 2022). 

                                                                                    References

Thompson, D., Miranda, J., Callender, C., Dave, J. M., Appiah, G., & Musaad, S. M. A. (2023). See Me, Hear Me, Know Me: Perspectives on Diet and Physical Activity Influences among Teens Living in Rural Texas Communities. Nutrients, 15(21), 4695. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15214695

Wagner, D. E., Seneres, G., Jones, E., Brodersen, K. A., & Whitsitt-Paulson, S. (2022). Swap Up Your Meal: A Mass Media Nutrition Education Campaign for Oklahoma Teens. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(16), 10110. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610110