Report On Nutrition And Obesity Case Study
Overweight and obesity is a major problem for Americans nowadays. Our lifestyle and the food we eat are the major things contributing to this problem. We tend to snack and constantly eat even if we aren’t hungry. According to CDC, obesity results from a combination of causes and contributing factors including individual factors such as behavior and genetics. Behaviors can include dietary patterns, physical activity, inactivity, medication use etc. Weight that is higher than what is considered as a normal weight for a given height is described as overweight or obese. Body mass index (BMI) is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. BMI is used as a screening for overweight or obesity.
Anxiety related to situational crisis and stress is the major cause to why my client snacks all the time which leads to her overweight. Readiness for enhanced nutrition is a NANDA approved nursing diagnoses that I have chosen for my client. I believe that this will help my client to choose the right food to eat and also help her to reduce her stress thus reduce her weight. This paper is a health promotion paper which will help my client to eat more healthier and live a longer life. My client Jemima Markus is a 28 year old African American Female. She is a divorcee and has one child. She is a Muslin and as part of her culture she wears a hijab. She is currently doing her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology with a part-time job as a CNA at a nursing home. As a child she had no illness and has not been hospitalized. As I said before she is a Muslim. She is very Orthodox. She prays 5 times a day. Talking about her social connections, she is more of a family person. She spends most of her time with her daughter and when she has extra time she goes out with her friends. When it comes to illness and disease, she believes that illness is caused due to everyday health well-being. She says that an illness depends on the way we take care of ourselves. Jemima believes that eating certain foods helps us stay healthy. Also she said that at certain times she believes that severe illness may be a punishment from God for doing something bad. She prays to her God to keep her safe and healthy and she believes that praying helps.
Religious beliefs and practices have an important role during health and illness issues, as she prays to stay healthy and also she prays to become better when she is sick. In her culture members of the clergy come visit a person and pray for them if the person is terminally ill. Jemima believes no matter what, everyone will die one day, but she says that one should not harm themselves on purpose. For example, she said that one should not smoke and harm themselves. With regards to expressing emotions and feeling, she says that in her culture and religion she is allowed to express all emotions except anger towards God. She says that one is not allowed to be upset with God for making one ill or sick. She says that she is to thank God for everything he gives. In regards to death and grieving it is the same. She is not allowed to blame God for taking the person away from her or taking the person too early, but she is allowed to cry and pray for the person who died. Excessive crying, yelling and screaming is not allowed.
According to Erikson's stages of development, Jemima is in the 6th stage which is intimacy vs. isolation. Jemima is currently having trouble developing and maintaining successful relationships. Since she has a child, she is also having trouble taking care of her baby and also going to college. She is fine with her family and friends. She usually spends her free time with her family and friends and also with people from her religion. She is friendly with everyone and has no problems, but just has not found the right person to live her life with. Jemima is a stress eater. As she is a single mother and goes to college she is struggling to cope up with her stress. She has so much homework to do and a lot of studying to do. She says she is very much stressed with college, work and taking care of her child. She says that eating is the best way that she can relieve her stress. She says that she turns to food to relieve stress or cope with unpleasant emotions such as sadness, loneliness, etc. And after eating, she believes she feels even worse. She says that she feels guilty for overeating. Due to her increased stress she has lost some of her hair. This happened after she gave birth to her child. Her dad, few of her aunts and uncles have been diagnosed with hypertension and with her stress and overeating I also see a chance for her to develop hypertension. When Jemima is stressed out she snacks a lot. She just goes to the freezer and grabs a bowl of ice cream and eats. Also she snacks on lots of chips throughout the day. I feel this is why she is becoming overweight.
Readiness for enhanced nutrition is the NANDA approved nursing diagnosis that I have found for my client. Readiness for enhanced nutrition is a pattern of nutrient intake that is sufficient for metabolic needs. I chose this nursing diagnosis because with this my client can eat better and more healthier. This will help her reduce her weight and also prevent her from many diseases. One outcome that I want to see for my client is that she loses weight and becomes more fit. I want her to lose about 15 pounds over the time limit of 2 months. After that I want her to maintain her weight within her normal range i. e. , with respect to height and age. Another outcome I want my client to achieve is to be able to choose the right foods and to eat healthier. I want her to design dietary modifications that meet her long term goal i. e. , to lose weight and maintain it. I want her to design this along with her diet to lose 15 pounds over 2 months. It is not easy for a person to lose 15 pounds in 2 months. Not only is it not easy, for those who eat 24/7, they might feel it like it is impossible. Even though my client does not eat 24/7, losing 15 pounds in 2 months might be hard for her. Nursing interventions that I would apply are, I would ask her to keep a 1-3 day food diary in which she records everything she ate and drank. This would help her and the nurse to analyze her quality, quantity and pattern of food intake. Also I would advise the client to measure food periodically. This will help the client to learn usual portion sizes. This would also help her to reflect each weeks amount of food she eats. By the end of the 2 months, my client will be able to see her changes. As I said before my client loves to snack and she eats a lot of sugary food. Her father has been diagnosed with diabetes and there is a high risk for her to also have diabetes. Therefore, I would encourage her to decrease intake of sugars, including intake of soft drinks, deserts and candy. I would teach her to limit sugar intake to 6. 5 teaspoons of sugar daily.
I would also recommend her to limit the intake of saturated fats and avoid trans fatty acids completely. Instead of all these fats, I would recommend her to increase intake of vegetable oils such as polyunsaturated oils. Jemima says that she has to have a meat dish every day. I would recommend to bake chicken instead of frying it. Also I would recommend her to use low- fat choices when selecting and cooking meat. The same would apply when selecting dairy products. I would recommend my client to decrease the intake of red meat and processed meats, and instead eat more poultry, fish, dairy and soy. My client is allergic to peanuts. To get protein into her diet, I would recommend my client to avoid red meat and eat nuts like almonds. Jemima has a chance of getting hypertension so I would recommend her to avoid or prepare foods with less salt. I would also advise her to drink plenty of water (2000 mL or 2 quarts per day). By the end of two months, I hope Jemima will be able to lose 15 pounds and also be able to maintain her weight after that. Together we would design a great diet consisting of the required vegetables, proteins, grains and all the necessary items according to the amount she requires.
To conclude, overweight and obesity are major issues seen in America but if we wish to control it, with the help of a nurse or a dietician you can be able to work it out. Along with some exercise and a well maintained diet everyone who wishes to lose weight can. This will help you to be healthier and live a better and longer life.
