Problem
Health Behavior
The sedentary lifestyle which leads to obesity is a problem in the population of 18-44 years old in Hillsborough County, Florida. This issue has pessimistic forecasts for the state: the number of people in healthy weight before 2030 may fall by 6% (Florida Health, 2022). The leading practices that prevent this disease are proper nutrition and active rest. Accordingly, the intervention must include at least one of them.
Population
The younger population was chosen for several reasons. Firstly, the prevention of the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle is given more readily in the case of a younger age. Secondly, health education for adults should be carried out the sooner, the better to draw attention to the problem. In terms of demographic data at this age, black, white, Hispanic, and multiracial are most at risk of obesity (America’s Health Rankings, 2022). In a selected population age, more than 3% has been increasing cases since 2019 (America’s Health Rankings, 2022). There are no significant differences by gender, while income is almost inversely linear (America’s Health Rankings, 2022). Therefore, it is possible to focus on races and consider the financial possibilities of the population’s representatives.
Place
In the selected region, the percentage of obesity is four more than in the state, although less than in the country (U.S. News, 2022). These statistics indicate that intervention is needed in Hillsborough County due to higher disease rates.
Intervention
Name
Bike & pedestrian master plans (County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, 2022).
Description
The comprehensive program involves drawing attention to alternative transport that does not pollute the environment and contributes to the dynamic load. Although there are infrastructural changes at the city level in this plan, requiring lobbying and cooperation with the authorities, at this stage, methods of health education and encouragement of using bicycles or walking instead of cars are in circulation. As a result, education will be used first: explaining the benefits of affordable and valuable transport, advice, and assistance.
Location
The performance will be held in the city square, the community center. This location is due to the high traffic and the ability to immediately get down to business, attract people to walk or ride bicycles and explain available techniques to prevent obesity. The event result can be a small flash mob, a general walk, or a bicycle sprint if there is enough sports equipment, desire, and preparation of the participants. These tasks can be done on an ongoing basis to develop active lifestyle habits for at-risk groups and all comers. Unlike urban infrastructural changes, this approach can be implemented relatively quickly.
Support
The evidence for a correlation between being active and preventing obesity is overwhelming. This intervention is unique in that it simultaneously solves many essential tasks. For example, studies even show long-term effects of cycling on body weight (Blond et al., 2019). Switching to walking mode prevents injuries on on-road parts (Tang et al., 2020). Finally, as an active lifestyle option, cycling reduces excess appetite in adults by promoting better metabolism (Quist et al., 2019). In addition to the evident positive dynamics of weight loss, it is necessary to convey and educate people on this information as part of the intervention. Accordingly, Hillsborough County residents should be aware of these benefits and receive assistance, such as learning to ride a bike. Such educational intervention can be further expanded by the authorities in the field of urban infrastructure to support such modes of transport.
References
America’s Health Rankings. (2022). Obesity in Florida. Web.
Blond, M. B., Rosenkilde, M., Gram, A. S., Tindborg, M., Christensen, A. N., Quist, J. S., & Stallknecht, B. M. (2019). How does 6 months of active bike commuting or leisure-time exercise affect insulin sensitivity, cardiorespiratory fitness and intra-abdominal fat? A randomised controlled trial in individuals with overweight and obesity.British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(18), 1183-1192. Web.
County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. (2022). Bike & pedestrian master plans. Web.
Florida Health. (2022). Healthy weight. Web.
Quist, J. S., Blond, M. B., Gram, A. S., Steenholt, C. B., Janus, C., Holst, J. J.,… & Rosenkilde, M. (2019). Effects of active commuting and leisure-time exercise on appetite in individuals with overweight and obesity.Journal of Applied Physiology, 126(4), 941-951. Web.
Tang, J., Zhou, Q., Nie, B., & Hu, J. (2020). Obesity effects on pedestrian lower extremity injuries in vehicle-to-pedestrian impacts: A numerical investigation using human body models.Traffic Injury Prevention, 21(8), 569-574. Web.
U.S. News. (2022). Overview of Hillsborough County, FL. Web.