Hcs-490 Demographic Paper Essay

San Diego’s Children Obesity In this day of age, everyone is busy with life; taking short cuts anywhere possible seems to be the solution for many people. This means turning to fast foods and an unhealthy lifestyles sweeping over humanity. This paper will focus on child obesity in San Diego, California, and the impact it has caused on the health care marked. Furthermore, health related challenges, chronic wellness programs that affect health care cost, and marketing needs for this population. The community in San Diego can come together to provide a healthier lifestyle for their children. Demographic Data San Diego is known as a hot spot, a place where people love to get away and enjoy a great vacation. However, there is a huge epidemic taking place within the San Diego community. San Diego’s obesity rates pass the nation’s average, there is more than one out of every four children who are overweight and considered obese (Childhood Obesity Initiative, 2011). There are several factors that play into obese children in San Diego primarily starting with genetics and family history with poor functioning family and limited education. Secondary is behavioral and social risk factors. This is because a lack of physical activates, excessive screen time such as television, poor nutrition, and limited to fresh food access. The tertiary outcomes of these factors result in eating disorders and overweight children turning into adults (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2012). In the years of 2009 to 2010, girls in the age range of 12 to 19 had a higher prevalence of obesity th an girls age two to 11. That same year boys age ranging from six to 11 had the highest prevalence of obesity than boys aging from two to six and boys aging 12 to 19 (County of San Diego. 2009). In 2008, boys ranging in the age of two to 19 had a higher chance of becoming obese than non-Hispanic White boys. Within that same year, non-Hispanic Black girls had a greater chance of becoming obese that a non-Hispanic White girl (County of San Diego. 2009). San Diego County projects every one in three children who come from a low income family are considered obese before they even have their fifth birthday (County of San Diego. 2009). Child Obesity Effects on Health Care Obesity has a wide range of health factors and risks that follow; however, that is not the only problem. California spends more public and private money on health care related to obesity than any other state. This includes a loss of productivity in overweight and the obese costing families, health care industry, employers, and the government more than 21 billion dollars each year (Babey, 2012). Poor eating habits are becoming a big problem costing billions of dollars. San Diego like many other neighborhoods have unhealthy, inexpressive foods that contributing to this obesity epidemic. This is why the hospital systems across San Diego County are coming together to promote healthy eating within their cafeterias, patient meals, and the community (Childhood Obesity Initiative. (2011). In 2012 the Nutrition in Healthcare Leadership Team (NHLT) completed a plan for healthier food choices. This goal include making healthy foods and beverages the standard, give leeway on buying powers to buy healthier foods, collaboration among healthcare organizations, raise the food literacy, and track food practices in the health care system (Childhood Obesity Initiative. (2011). Health Care Challenges There are both direct and indirect costs that are associated with obesity among children who face challenges for San Diego County. Direct costs are healthcare cost as well as pharmaceuticals, while indirect costs are lost productivity and costs that would be associated with workdays and earning wages lost (Cohen, 2000). San Diego County spends more than three billion dollars on direct and indirect cost annually. As the percentages of child obesity are on the rise, the cost of medical care and productivity will rise (Childhood Obesity Initiative. 2012). Wellness Programs Affecting Cost Fusion Academy and Learning Center of San Diego is introducing a comprehensive Wellness Program for school children in sixth to twelfth grade. This program will educated these students and give them a chance to make healthier lifestyle choices and easily navigate through childhood adolescence (Fusion Academy & Learning Center, 2012). Fusion academy runs 20 sessions that focus on four separate disciplines. These are emotional wellness, art expression, music expression, yoga, nutrition, and meditation (Fusion Academy & Learning Center, 2012). The cost for the program is $1,680 (Fusion Academy & Learning Center, 2012), it may seem a high price to pay; however, this wellness program will pay off by educating the young on how to live a healthier lifestyle and make healthier decisions. This would lead to lower healthcare cost in the future and a fresh start for the children of this county. Markets Needs Marketing needs for obese children in San Diego County start off with planning. Planning is one of the most important steps in marketing. Knowing the targeted audience in which planning to market for such as races, ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds. A large population of obese children in San Diego County comes from lower income families who are not well educated (County of San Diego. 2009), so this would be the targeted audience. Apart of this plan for marketing San Diego County would need to address the following: †¢ Build awareness for childhood obesity†¦ [paragraph continues] †¢ Build a guide for everyone interested in San Diego County; addressing childhood obesity, including businesses, and instructions with neighborhoods to be addressed†¦ [paragraph continues] †¢ Building drive for the plan of action†¦ [paragraph continues] †¢ Teaming partnerships with already existing organization on this issue with new new sectors†¦ [paragraph cont inues] †¢ Make sure that strategies follow policy and environmental changes and not just individual needs and family efforts†¦ [paragraph continues] †¢ Develop a planned document to support the community partnerships in their efforts†¦ [paragraph continues] This would call for everyone in San Diego County to collaborate in the fight against childhood obesity (Call to Action, 2006). Once all the criteria are addressed, it would be presented to seven different domain areas such as: †¢ County and city governments†¦ [paragraph continues] †¢ Healthcare systems and providers†¦ [paragraph continues] †¢ Schools†¦ paragraph continues] †¢ Preschools, childcare providers and other school programs†¦ [paragraph continues] †¢ Community-based programs†¦ [paragraph continues] †¢ Media†¦ [paragraph continues] †¢ Different businesses†¦ [paragraph continues] Relaying the message about childhood obesity and the impacts it has on San Diego will help in the fight to turn the epidemic around. Addressing Child Obesity Addressing childhood obesity takes the whole community to get involved. There are several initiatives that address childhood obesity in San Diego County, such as Halloween Candy Buy Back program (Childhood Obesity Initiative, 2012). This program consists of 13 different dental offices and pediatric offices that buy back children’s Halloween candy and send it as a treat to the United States troops through a nonprofit organization called Operation Gratitude (Childhood Obesity Initiative, 2012). In 2011, the healthcare domain collaborated with health care physicians to build a menu for children in a fight to cut back on childhood obesity. Annual Anderson Memorial Conferences are held to bring dental providers and medical providers together to cross-collaborate and communicate child obesity prevention (Childhood Obesity Initiative, 2012). Conclusion There is no doubt that child obesity has become a huge issue in San Diego County. This is a problem that can be changed with educating the community. Getting the community involved and educating the children to live a healthier lifestyle are steps to take for a bright future in San Diego County. The children are the future and taking action will give these children a chance to live a long and health life while saving costs in health care and fighting off diseases. References Babey, S. H., Bloom, A., & Goldstein, H. (2012, June). Overweight and Obesity among Children by California Cities – 2010. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and California Center for Public Health Advocacy,. Retrieved from http://cbsla.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/patchworkcities6-4-12.pdf Call to Action. (2006). San Diego County. Childhood Obesity Action Plan. Retrieved from http://eatbettermovemore.org/sa/policies/pdftext/SDobesity_action_plan.pdf Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Overweight and Obesity. Causes and Consequences. Retreived from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/causes/index.html. Childhood Obesity Initiative. (2011). Overweight and Obesity in San Diego County. Overview. About us. Retrieved from http://ourcommunityourkids.org/ Childhood Obesity Initiative. (2012). The Challenges of Childhood Obesity. Call of Action Child Obesity Action Plan. Retrieved from http://ourcommunityourkids.org/media/17878/action%20plan%20revision%202010%20final.pdf Cohen, J. (2000, December). Overweight Kids: Why Should We Care. CRB, 1-42. Retrieved from http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/00/08/00-008.pdf County of San Diego. (2009). Health and Human Services, Public Health Services, Community Heal th Statistics Unit. Healthy People 2010 Health Indicators for San Diego County; Full Report. Retrieved from www.SDHealthStatistics.com. Fusion Academy & Learning Center. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.fusionacademy.com/news/san-diego-fusion-san-diego-introduces-wellness-program