Reference no: EM133887563

Question

Reply to this post giving an account of why is there increasing emphasis on nutrition and exercise for middle aged and aging families? Why is it more significant than 30 years ago?

Fueled by the skyrocketing costs of healthcare in the United States within the past few decades, an emphasis has been placed on creating a healthcare system that provides quality healthcare that is not a burden on our society's resources. An example of this emphasis is the enaction of the Affordable Care Act that has the goal of creating affordable healthcare for everyone while increasing quality (Wasserman et al., 2019). The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (2023) created the Triple Aim Initiative to address the deficiencies in the United States healthcare system as well by presenting an approach and design concept that will enable organizations to produce healthier communities and populations. Putting a spotlight on these deficiencies has increased the significance of emphasizing interventions proven to improve the health of the population. Compared to 30 years ago, the public did not have as much of a need for evidence in order to accept an intervention as valid. With the growing body of valid evidence for certain interventions in the past few decades, the increased skepticism of today can be convinced of the benefits and reliability of current health interventions.

A problem festering for the past 30 years is the increase in body weight and obesity. Healthy People 2030 (n.d.) has found that 2 in 5 Americans are obese. According to Healthy People 2030 (n.d.), obesity is linked to serious health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers. These health problems have always been serious, however, since there is an increase in obesity, these health problems are increasing as well. This increase in health problems is making the population not as healthy as it could be. To combat this trend, the causes must be found. Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health (2023) has found that the increasingly unhealthy diet and decreased activity level of the population in the past few decades has been contributing to weight gain of the population. Numerous factors are involved, such as the affordability of nutritious food. Unhealthy foods that lead to weight gain tend to be cheaper, while nutritious foods can be much more expensive. Increased technology, such as digital entertainment, has created a more sedentary lifestyle that contributes to weight gain as well as a decrease in health status. The connectivity of the internet has allowed for the increased bombardment of advertisements that influence diet choices. The recognition of these elements in society has given healthcare professionals an idea for a solution that improves the health status of this population. The increase of the emphasis on changes to nutrition and activity of middle aged and aging families is propelled by evidence that implementing these changes will provide better weight control and reduce the risk of serious health problems. This complements Bickley's (2017) rationale that focusing on health promotion is more effective because treating disease at an early stage is more successful than at a later stage. Preventing a problem is much more efficient than treating the problem for middle aged and aging families.