Specialist Management Dietetic and Nutrition

Question: Discuss about the Specialist Management for Dietetic and Nutrition. Answer: Introduction The prevalence of obesity has been found to be increasing in the past two decades and trend would continue in the future too. The fact that obesity and fast food restaurants have been increasing parallel over time is not a valid evidence of the relation between the two (Xue et al., 2016). Opponents argue that there are differences in the consumption of fast food across the general population as people consuming more fast food are prone to other behaviour affecting obesity. Whether fast food can be blamed for obesity remains a topic of debate in the modern world (Shrestha et al., 2016). Obesity has its impact in high-income countries and a rising number of middle- and low-income countries. As per the latest survey of 2010, four out of ten adults of age between 18 and 69 in Singapore were overweight. Out this section of the population, one out of ten had obesity, and the figure is almost double than what it was in the year 1992. The population faces the high risk of chronic diseases li ke cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer due to obesity (hssr.duke-nus.edu.sg, 2016). Obesity is defined as the medical condition in which individuals have an inappropriate body mass index (BMI) due to excess accumulation of body fat, thereby causing a negative impact on health (Turnbull, 2016). Fast food is the kind of mass-produced food that can be prepared and served in less time as compared to other food preparations. Fast food is usually high in unhealthy saturated fat, tans fat and calories, thereby augmenting the risk of increased body fat (Loureiro Rahmani, 2016). Critics have the opinion that fast foods are to be blamed for the increasing obesity epidemic in a modern era. The reason behind such circumstance can be attributed to the fact that individuals do not necessarily take up the responsibility of their eating behaviour. Research are being carried out that are constantly trying to prove that obesity is not due to fast food solely. The thesis statement in this re gard is that Fast foods are not to be solely blamed for obesity and other factors also contribute towards the increasing rate of this health issue. Individuals opting for fast-ood have the tendency to become obese in comparison to individuals who do not consume fast food on regular basis. This is due to the preponderane of high-calories, high salt and high fat menus. However, individuas can alway make a smart choice at the restuarents and opt for menus that are healthy and no hih in carbohydrate or fat content. Fast food joints can look for a few healthy menus that would cater to the needs of the health conscious individuals. Evidence 1- Burgoine et al., (2016) examine that the role of diet in fast food that can be recommended to the consumers keeping in mind the fast changing tastes and food choices of the population. The author suggests that diet can be maintained even in fast food if there is a provision for proper intake of carbohydrates, proteins, fat, and minerals. Evidence 2- Barnes et al., (2016) state that intake of trans-fat is an issue when comes to making a fast food menu aligned with a proper diet. Apart from this concern, a fast-food diet can be possibly made with good food choices that are healthy and nutritionally complete. This would leave no reason why fast food is to be blamed solely for obesity. Concluding statement- It is possible to create a diet in fast food restaurants that can be similar to the recommendations put forward by the dietary reference index of health organisations. Though fast-food centres can be partially blamed for changing eating habits, it is upto the individual to balance between intake of fast-food and healthy food in order to reduce the chances of being obese. At the modern era, health education has reached all sections of the society and almost the whole population is aware of the harmful health impact of fast-foods. Individuals must therefore be aware of the own food requirements and select the diet accordingly. Evidence 3- Sturm Hattori (2015) highlight that it is the responsibility of the individuals to choose the food items from the options the different fast food chains have. As a supporter of individual freedom, the author states that individuals must devise their menu as per the calorie requirements and their body mass index. Individuals can choose from the food items that are of lean meat, and low-fat condiments. Evidence 4- Laxy et al., (2015) support this idea by stating that individuals well understand the needs they have in relation to the food they must consume and it is possible to restrict the food they consume. Though fast food is convenient to take in the context of the fast moving life, one must not consume it in avoidable circumstances. Concluding statement- Individuals are responsible for their intake of fast food. The increased prevalence of obesity indicates that people are not aware of the consequences of being obese and are not taking up effective measures to loose weight. The speedy acceleration of the obesity epdemic highlights that people are simply overindulging and are lazy enough to not take up required amount of physical activity. Once individuals start to consider obesity as a personal problem, the matter can be solved and policymakers can propose the deired interventions for reducing obesity prevalence. Evidence 5- Currie et al., (2010) state that not all parts of the different developing, as well as developed countries, has restaurants and food joints selling fast food. However, the increased rate of obesity is evident uniformly in all sections of the society across these countries. Factors that significantly contribute to obesity include lack of physical activities and this is a growing concern across the society in all countries. The blame can be given to the lifestyle individuals have at the present time. Though people are concerned regarding their health status, they are left with no options but to lead a life that has minimal provisions for adequate physical activity. This issue is a significant aspect contributing to the increased prevalence of obesity. Evidence 6- Jiao et al., (2015) support by stating that lack of income to and geographical location does not always permit common population to access fast food. Energy imbalance is evident in the section of the population that is suffering from obesity. Sedentary lifestyle and economical problems prevailing in modern societies are a major cause of obesity. The epidemic of excess weight across the globe is a result of an imbalance between dietary energy intake and physical activity. Concluding statement- Lack of physical activities and other predisposing factors have contributed to the alarming rate of increased obesity. Conclusion From the overall discussion it can be logically concluded that obesity and fast food though are interrelated, the complete blame for obesity cannot be put on fast food. A rich pool of evidences have indicated that other factors like options of a healthy fast food meal, physical acitivity and adequate awareness can combat the increasing prevalence of obesity across the globe, including Singapore. From the above cited evidences it can be summaried that it is possible to create a diet in fast food restaurants and individuals should focus on managing on their diet and physical activities for avoiding obesity. The statement of limitation is that fast food are not to be solely blamed for obesity. More research is warrented in this matter to put forward more strong evidence that can be the basis for policy reforms in healthcare. References Barnes, T. L., French, S. A., Mitchell, N. R., Wolfson, J. (2016). Fast-food consumption, diet quality and body weight: cross-sectional and prospective associations in a community sample of working adults.Public health nutrition,19(05), 885-892. Burgoine, T., Forouhi, N. G., Griffin, S. J., Brage, S., Wareham, N. J., Monsivais, P. (2016). Does neighborhood fast-food outlet exposure amplify inequalities in diet and obesity? A cross-sectional study.The American journal of clinical nutrition,103(6), 1540-1547. Currie, J., DellaVigna, S., Moretti, E., Pathania, V. (2010). The effect of fast food restaurants on obesity and weight gain.American Economic Journal: Economic Policy,2(3), 32-63. Hssr.duke-nus.edu.sg. (2016).Obesity | Health Services and Systems Research. [online] Available at: https://hssr.duke-nus.edu.sg/research-areas/obesity [Accessed 20 Dec. 2016]. Jiao, J., Moudon, A. V., Kim, S. Y., Hurvitz, P. M., Drewnowski, A. (2015). Health implications of adults eating at and living near fast food or quick service restaurants.Nutrition diabetes,5(7), e171. Laxy, M., Malecki, K. C., Givens, M. L., Walsh, M. C., Nieto, F. J. (2015). The association between neighborhood economic hardship, the retail food environment, fast food intake, and obesity: findings from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin.BMC public health,15(1), 1. Loureiro, M. L., Rahmani, D. (2016). The incidence of calorie labeling on fast food choices: A comparison between stated preferences and actual choices.Economics Human Biology,22, 82-93. Shrestha, A., Koju, R. P., Beresford, S. A. A., Chan, K. C. G., Karmacharya, B. M., Fitzpatrick, A. L. (2016). Dietary patterns and obesity in Nepal.Annals of Global Health,82(3), 557. Sturm, R., Hattori, A. (2015). Diet and obesity in Los Angeles County 20072012: Is there a measurable effect of the 2008 Fast-Food Ban?.Social Science Medicine,133, 205-211. Turnbull, L. (2016). Obesityspecialist management.Dietetic and Nutrition Case Studies, 125-130. Xue, H., Wu, Y., Wang, X., Wang, Y. (2016). Time trends in fast food consumption and its association with obesity among children in China.PloS one,11(3), e0151141.