Week 6 Assignment: Drafting the Abstract (Weekly Written Assignment Worksheet)

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Running Head: ETHICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES OF OVERNUTRITION

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ETHICAL AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES OF OVERNUTRITION

Ethical and Cultural Perspectives of Overnutrition
The affect Overnutrition has on public health issues
Would Approaching Overnutrition in healthcare as a Public Health Issue decrease rates of chronic in lower income areas in America?
From a Future Nurse’s Perspective
May 9, 2021
Yesenia Perez
West Coast University

Ethical and Cultural Perspectives of Overnutrition

Introduction

Overnutrition has become one of the main health issues in the most communities. The way of living determines the health conditions of individuals. Ethical and cultural practices of community people can influence the nutrition of the people. However, it is the responsibility of each person to be accountable of their healthy living. Development of health strategies help to keep an individual healthy after following the nutrition guidelines. Due to the difference in the financial status of the people in the community, poverty is one of the main causes of overnutrition since most people rely on the fast foods as they are cheap and affordable. This paper contains the ethical and cultural perspective of overnutrition developed under research questions which include; What laws govern overnutrition, What ethical obstacles affect how medical community addresses overnutrition, How ethical theories apply to overnutrition, How money, power and control matters to overnutrition, Which cultural values influence overnutrition, How overnutrition is addressed in different cultural context, Which cultures are most affected by over nutrition and Which cultural traditions affect the treatment of overnutrition.

Ethical perspective of inquiry

Laws that govern overnutrition

Overnutrition is caused by the over consumption of nutrients and food stuffs such that the health of an individual is affected causing health conditions such as hypertension, type-2 diabetes and obesity (2021). Healthcare community has developed the strategy of educating people on the importance of health living through maintenance of good eating habits. To avoid the risks of developing the health risks caused by overnutrion, creating suitable and healthy diets maintains the required amounts of nutrients in the body. Since the accumulation of fats in the body is risky as it can lead to cardiovascular disease, it is advisable to consume fat-free foods. Likely, physical fitness keeps the body healthy since incase of any fats in the body, it is simple to get rid of them by sweating as a result of physical activities.

Ethical obstacles affecting medical community address overnutrition

To address the issue of overnutrition in the community, the medical specialists come up with guidelines that the patients of overnutrition are required to follow for the improvement of their health conditions. However, the medical community experiences a hard time in addressing overnutrition since the doctor-patient confidentiality may not be as expected and hence the patients end up hiding important information from the doctor. This makes it hard for the patients to follow the guidelines given by the doctor. A good example is when the patient is not financially stable and is required to maintain a specific diet which they are not able to afford. Negligence is another ethical issue that affects medical community in addressing overnutrition as patients may ignore the physician’s instructions on healthy diet. Hence, patients who have severe conditions may never recover from the condition.

Ethical theories applied to overnutrition

Ethical behavior influences the way one reacts or responds to a situation. In addressing overnutrition, people are expected to be disciplined in following the medical guidelines issued about healthy living (Media, 2021). Ethical theories such as utilitarian ethics state that proper decision making should be made in consideration of the benefits of the people. It is possible to stop the issue of overnutrion among the community people by creating awareness of the negative and positive effects of maintaining healthy diets. However, most of the responsibility on living a healthy life is on the people. Virtue ethics states that decisions rely on the virtues of the people. If patients express virtues, it is easy to be disciplined in adhering to the rules of healthy diets issued by medical professionals to address their overnutrition conditions.

Effects of money, power and control on treatment of overnutrition

Poverty is a primary issue among the people in the society. The poor financial status of the community people makes it difficult for them to afford the health diets as expected. Individuals with stable financial status are able to maintain the healthy living conditions since they are able to consume the healthy diets (“Fact sheets – Malnutrition”, 2021). Power has caused the different level of class among the people. Due to the perception of high class, people want to live healthy lives and hence they are able to incur any cost as opposed to the low-class individuals. Treating overnutrition requires adaption of the healthy eating habits. The control measures on what an individual will consume influences the treatment strategy. The ability to totally avoid fatty foods and strive to be physically fit is the main determinant of healthy living conditions.

Cultural perspective of inquiry

Cultural values influencing overnutrition

The difference in the cultural values and norms of the people in the community can play an important role in the nutrition of people. People from different cultures have variety of foods that they consume. When they interact with other people from different cultures, it is easy for them to learn other heathy living strategies by consuming new foods. However, there are cultural values that involve the selection of foods to be used in the community. This creates an issue in the treatment of overnutrition since the community people are not allowed to consume some of the foods which might be advised from a medical community. However, the frequency of eating varies depending on the cultural values that people believe in. In the underdeveloped countries, most people rely on the fast foods since they are cheap hence this creates a high risk of overnutrition due to the consistent consumption of fatty foods.

Overnutrition in different cultural contexts and situations

It is evident that cultural factors may play a role in the increasing number of people with obesity due to overnutrition. In some cultures, it is believed that when an individual is overweight, it is a sign of affluence since food might not be evenly distributed among the community people. In some situations, people may choose to migrate to new places hence they are forced to follow the values of the cultures they join (“Nutrition 411: The Nutritional Melting Pot: Understanding the Influence of Food, Culture, and Religion on Nutrition Interventions”, 2021). The foods they are exposed to might be different from the one they are used to. There are chances that the people may end up consuming the new foods excessively than the required amounts. This situation can lead to overnutrition since people eat without getting concerned about the negative outcomes. Likely, the choices people make on the foods they eat has a great impact to their health since foods with high calories, fats and sugars contribute to obese when consumed over a long time.

Societies mostly affected by overnutrition

It is proved that the societies living in the areas which are more developed economically tend to have high numbers of people with obese compared to people living in the parts of the country where there is low economic development. This is because the people in the rural areas are most likely going to consume well cooked foods. In the developed areas, there are high chances that the people will mainly prefer ing already prepared foods, packed foods and processed foods which are risky to the health living of individuals. Moreover, in developed areas, the people tend to do less physical activities since they travel mostly with vehicles and do less work during the day. This results to the health issues of being overweight as fats and sugars from the food eaten accumulate in the body cells.

Cultural traditions affecting treatment of overnutrition

For people with overnutrition, the first treatment to the issue is changing the diet of the patient. Foods with fats are not recommended for the patients since they are a cause of poor health as they accumulate in the body (“Culture and its Influence on Nutrition and Oral Health”, 2021). The cultural traditions that view overweight people as a sign of wealth create difficulties in the treatment of overnutrition since the traditions encourage people to eat more food to gain the big bodies. Likely, the selection of foods and the methods used to prepare the foods among different cultural traditions. The availability of fats in the diet might be a challenge in maintaining the guidelines of medical specialists to living a healthy life.

Conclusion

In conclusion, overnutrition is one of the major health problems in the society. Medical community has developed certain guidelines to help in the reduction of the increased number of people with overnutrition. Ethical perspectives influence the issue of overnutrition among people. Developing discipline in observing the rules from medical specialists on maintaining a healthy diet contributes to the living healthy lives. However, ethical obstacles such as the negligence of the patience can lower the chances of treating overnutrition as the strategies given are not properly followed. The level of financial status of people in the different communities determine the chances of them consuming heathy diets. It is evident that the people living in the developed societies are at a high risk of being obese since most of them consume processed foods. However, the cultural interaction among people can pay part in maintenance of proper health diets since people are likely to learn new food stuffs from the various cultures they interact with. The first treatment for overnutrition is the control of diet that individuals consume. It is advisable to avoid the foods with a lot of fats since they accumulate in the body causing health issues.

Reference
Media, W. (2021). Ethical Theories. Pagecentertraining.psu.edu. Retrieved 7 May 2021, from https://www.pagecentertraining.psu.edu/public-relations-ethics/introduction-to-public-relations-ethics/lesson-1/ethical-theories/.

Nutrition 411: The Nutritional Melting Pot: Understanding the Influence of Food, Culture, and Religion on Nutrition Interventions. Wound Management & Prevention. (2021). Retrieved 7 May 2021, from https://www.o-wm.com/article/nutrition-411-nutritional-melting-pot-understanding-influence-food-culture-and-religion.

Culture and its Influence on Nutrition and Oral Health. Biomedical and Pharmacology Journal. (2021). Retrieved 7 May 2021, from https://biomedpharmajournal.org/vol8octoberspledition/culture-and-its-influence-on-nutrition-and-oral-health/.
Rubin, A. (2021). Is Obesity Culturally Influenced ? – Health Beat. Health Beat. Retrieved 7 May 2021, from https://jamaicahospital.org/newsletter/is-obesity-culturally-influenced/.

Fact sheets – Malnutrition. Who.int. (2021). Retrieved 7 May 2021, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malnutrition.
Floridatechonline.com. (2021). Retrieved 7 May 2021, from https://www.floridatechonline.com/blog/healthcare-management/current-ethical-issues-in-healthcare/.