Research Paper on Obesity Among African Americans in Texas

Introduction

In the contemporary health care environment, obesity and overweight are adamantly increasing among different subgroups in the United States of America placing many people at high risk of diverse chronic condition-related mortality and morbidity (Augustina, 2018). According to World Health Organization data collected in 2015, the estimated obesity rate in Americans adult is approximately 39.8% with men accounting for 34.4% while women 44.7% despite diverse behavioral weight management programs established to assist in regulating and propelling weight loss by approximately 5% to 7% (Nguyen, Keith, Taylor, Mouzon, & Chatters, 2017). Historically, obesity is a chronic condition that is steadily increasing among different vulnerable communities with no substantive care propelled to help eradicate the condition. As affirmed by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, different communities such as African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Latino and Native Americans are uniquely effective by obesity due to the divergent social and cultural structures, and health care procurements. Race and ethnic differences substantially determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among different individuals. For instance, over 77% of African American women in their late 20s openly acknowledges to being overweight or obese (Nguyen et al., 2017). Obesity increases among African American adults; it is relatively decreasing among children, which was recorded to have dropped from 16% to 14% between 2012 and 2014 (Nguyen et al., 2017). Unlike African Americans, the native white populace experience lower obesity rate also compared to communities such as Latino and Hispanic Americans who regretfully fall below the poverty threshold.

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Additionally, the increasing nature of obesity among different subgroups and communities in America is highly contributed to the economic growth, increased sedentary lifestyle, mechanized transportation, and nutritional transition that focuses on processed foodstuff. Unlike two decades ago, contemporary society is characterized by massive junk food and diverse inactivity, which highly make different communities vulnerable to overweight and obesity. Like the African American community, many vulnerable ethnic groups like the Hispanic Americans are faced by acute scarcity of relevant socio-economic resources that could enable them cope with the prevalence of overweight and obesity. According to United States Department of Health and Human Services, more than 30% of Hispanic Americans adults and 17% of the youths had been classified as obese by 2007, but the number is steadily increasing same to the African American populace in America (Mama, McCurdy, Evans, Thompson, Diamond & Lee, 2015). While the cost of like keeps rising in many states in America, different vulnerable communities dominated by low-income families faces increased rate of obesity. For instance, in Fort Worth, Texas, 28.1% of African Americans, 26.2% of Caucasians and 37.2% Hispanic American adults are either overweight or obese with extremely high body mass index (Mama et al., 2015). According to a 2018 research conducted by the CDC, different minority communities are prone to obesity due to insufficient amenities and extreme poverty level. With inadequate knowledge of the causes of obesity among many people, the condition is increasing steadily. Regardless of the socio-economic and technological advancement characterized by divergent flow of information, many individuals from the minority groups or communities are regretfully threatened by overweight and obese condition. For instance, like many African American families, Hispanic Americans often feed on unhealthy foodstuff and junk food which consequently results in increased weights. With contemporary food processing machines, many low-income families are at risk of being overweight and obese compared to a decade ago.

Implementation Strategy and Assessment

Regretfully, the African Americans in Fort Worth are at high risk of stroke, hypertension, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Such vulnerability can only be eradicated by developing an effecting but flexible intervention program that is affordable and relevant to the contemporary populace prone to an unhealthy lifestyle. Obesity prevention program such as social cognitive theory intensified with quality diet and nutrition, physical education and relevant wellness would help to prevent and eliminate the condition (Mohammad et al., 2017). The community requires a stratified program that both increases individuals' knowledge on the risk factors of obesity and assist in comprehending diverse strategies of preventing the condition. For instance, advocating for the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) intervention program is significant and effective as it is relatively affordable for the African Americans in Fort Worth who succumb to extreme poverty and insufficient education. It emphasizes relevance and cooperation between patients and their environment. Increasing African Americans knowledge in the importance of their behaviours, diet, and social activities substantially help in adapting to a healthy lifestyle (de Oliveira, 2016). For example, they would increase the availability of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables in their diet, maintain regular physical exercise, and reduce screen times adequately helps reduce the risk of obesity (Ying, 2011).

The Social cognitive theory aims at increasing the intervention efficacy in reducing obesity and overweight in both adolescents and adults. Through advocating for the demonstration of self-control, the program encompasses individual victims setting attainable goals that promote education and positive relation and understanding of the environment (Ying, 2011). A change of behaviour that involves intense physical activities, and healthy dieting, limited screening duration and increased consumption of water would actively work in ensuring a healthy lifestyle and positive management of overweight and obesity. Moreover, the reduction and subsequent eradication depend on lowering the body mass index to maintain a healthy weight trajectory among the high-risk population which can be easily achieved through the social cognitive theory which enables one to understand his or her health, behavior and environment irrespective of age, gender or social status (Ying, 2011). For example, understanding the dangers of poor nutrition and inactivity such as consuming junk food and watching television or playing too much video games as risk factors of obesity could easily help an individual to reduce such activity and get involved in more health-oriented exercises like sports or jogging.

Implementation of the social cognitive theory is vital as people often learn by watching others and developing a belief system which contributes to a positive outcome. Through focusing on an individual's mental wellbeing, behavioural conducts, and social relation, social cognitive theory relates comprehension to an individual's self-efficacy in overcoming diverse socio-cultural obstacles that make victims vulnerable to overweight and obesity (Robert, 2018). The struggle and commitment required in promoting psychological, behavioural and emotional change cuts across different races without prejudice. The social cognitive intervention strategy actively propels an understanding of the cause and effect notion of poor lifestyles such as rampant inactivity and unhealthy dietary which consequently increases the chances of obesity (Robert, 2018). While the African American populace in Fort Worth faces acute poverty, they can easily conform within the jurisdiction of the social cognitive theory intervention which only requires simple adherence to healthy dietary, frequent physical exercise and weight management. Preventing obesity among many African American victims in Fort Worth needs persistence and determination.

Evaluation Methods

Consequently, the appropriate assessment method required to evaluate the prevalence of obesity among African Americans in Fort Worth is preferably summative or goal-oriented evaluation. Since determining the development process and progressive nature of obesity management is often difficult to even with social cognitive theory, measuring whether the intervention objectives have been achieved helps in empowering people with the relevant knowledge and skills to manage obesity. Since most African American populace in Fort Worth experiences numerous challenges ranging from poverty, discrimination to poor education, summative evaluation will be significantly effective in assessing the relevance on social cognitive theory as an intervention program to eliminating obesity (Robert, 2018). Nevertheless, despite the efficiency of the SCT in reducing the rate of obesity, it portrayed diverse weaknesses due to its rigid nature that advocated for acquisition of advance nutritional knowledge and physical health skills to aid in management of obesity, skills which most African American populace in the region lack, hence making it difficult to promptly attain the stipulated goals and objectives.

Conclusion

Conclusively, it is recommendable that the social cognitive intervention program to include diverse non-educative or informal strategies that could help in helping victims to reduce weight and body mass. As the problem of obesity increases, the intervention employed should be accommodative to all individuals irrespective of race, economic class, education or gender.

References

Augustina, A. (2018). Using social cognitive theory to predict obesity behavior in Hispanic American Children. Walden University. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6954&context=dissertationsde
Oliveira, A. C., Leonard, T. C., Shuval, K., Skinner, C. S., Eckel, C., & Murdoch, J. C. (2016). Economic preferences and obesity among a low-income African American community. Journal of economic behavior & organization, 131, 196-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2015.11.002
Mama, S. K., McCurdy, S. A., Evans, A. E., Thompson, D. I., Diamond, P. M., & Lee, R. E. (2015). Using community insight to understand physical activity adoption in overweight and obese African American and Hispanic women: a qualitative study. Health Education & Behavior, 42(3), 321-328. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198114557128
Nguyen, A. W., Taylor, R. J., Mouzon, D. M., & Chatters, L. M. (2017). Microaggressions, discrimination, and phenotype among African Americans: A latent class analysis of the impact of skin tone and BMI. Sociological Inquiry, 87(2), 233-255. https://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12168
Robert, W. (2018). The state of obesity in Texas. State of obesity. Retrieved from < https://www.stateofobesity.org/states/tx/> accessed on 20th September 2019

Ying, H. (2011). The theoretical strategy for overweight and obesity intervention program in the adult population. International journal of medicine and medical science. 3(6). Pp 164-169. https://academicjournals.org/journal/IJMMS/article-full-text-pdf/2DD5701143