Population Health Change Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Population Health Change - Research Paper Example Identification of the Target group In this case the problem identified in the population is obesity which refers to a medical condition in which there is excess accumulation of body fats in the body to the extent that it has adverse effects on the health of an individual resulting in reduced life expectancy and increased health problems. The scenario here is that in the population we have two different groups of people, the people who operate the cafeteria and the residents. The residents consume food from the cafeteria that causes the obesity. This change program will focus on the residents because of a number of reasons. The first reason is that if the change was directed on the cafeteria workers, the people will still look for that food because they are used to consuming that diet. Secondly for a lasting change to occur the residents must change their eating habits and this will also cause the cafeteria management to change their menu (Barr, 2007; Swinburn, 2004). The argument her e is that it is important that the residents realize the effects of the poor diet on them and change their eating habits. ... t supplies from outside to satisfy their needs (Barr, 2007) Dietary changes/modification There are a variety of strategies used for reducing obesity and these strategies vary depending on certain demographic factors within the target group. Some of the strategies that are very appropriate for this population are dietary changes and physical activity. Dietary changes involve the improvement of diet quality through the reduction in consumption of energy dense foods especially those that are high in fats and sugars and increase the intake of foods that are high in dietary fiber. In physical activity the individuals are encouraged to maintain a healthy body through planned body exercises that are regular and follow a specific pattern. These two strategies are most important in solving obesity and if followed well will lead to success of the change program (NHLBI, 2000; Schroeder, 2007). It is important to realize this is a residential center and this kind of place is usually for people w ho are older and cannot live on their own. Such people have low mobility levels and therefore cannot move from place to place. The best strategy for this group would dietary changes. This is because of a number of reasons. The first reason is that this group has low mobility levels and therefore engaging them in physical activities on a daily basis will not be welcomed by them. Secondly the age group of these people does not allow them to engage in physical activities such as running, they may walk for a short distance but this will burn fewer calories and therefore the change may take a very long time to occur and people usually do not like this and will end up stopping the activity before they actually reduce their body weight (NHLBI, 2000). The dietary plan changes will involve a five