Question

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Discussion 1: Environmental risk factors The Learning Resources in this module discuss the most effective ways of preventing the onset of chronic disease through influencing risk factors, policy and structural constraints. From the assignment resources, read the paper by Swinburn et al. (1999) on the importance of the concept of an obesogenic environment'. What role do you think identifying and prioritising environmental interventions has in preventing overweight and obesity in society? You're encouraged to draw from your experiences and observations.

Answer 1

Environment interventions in preventing overweight and obesity :

The causes of obesity are multifaceted and embedded into the environments in which people live. It is widely recognised that action must be taken across an array of different areas in order to make the impact needed to improve population outcomes.

The current environment has developed in a way which makes it easier for people to consume more food that is higher in fat and sugar and to be less physically active16, defined by Swinburn as the obesogenic environment: ‘The sum of the influences that the surroundings, opportunities or conditions of life have on promoting obesity in individuals and populations.One microenvironment which is particularly significant to children and young people is the school environment. Other than home, school is the environment in which children and young people spend the greatest part of their time, and therefore has an important role to play in terms of obesity prevention.

So there are some measures which can be taken for preventing overweight and obesity.

Environmental cues within a school, such as how food is presented and served, as well as nutritional standards for schools, shape social norms influencing children and young people’s food and activity choices. Interventions which make changes to the school environment can influence behaviour 9, through reducing obesogenic risk factors, making healthy eating choices the easiest choice and by creating a supportive environment that enables children and young people to maintain change.

INTERVENTIONS :

• Incentive measures: disseminate information and motivate individuals to adopt a healthy lifestyle;

• Support: facilitate healthy options among already motivated people.

• Health protection: prevent exposure of individuals to factors that stimulate non-healthy habits.