Obesity in South Carolina

Obesity is a serious health issue in the United States its prevalence growing higher every year and not only has it become a nationwide epidemic but for the last twenty years, the number of people who are overweight and obese has increased dramatically. Obesity is a disease that affects many people in South Carolina, with this state having the seventh highest prevalence rate in the United States (Coley, 2008). Obesity means having excess body fat and adults who are over thirty five years of age and have a body mass index (BMI) of over thirty are considered to be obese. Obesity is not only an aesthetic concern but also a medical one because it is a chronic disease which can lead to other diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, among many others. It is a very difficult disease to treat with a high relapse rate and more than ninety five percent of those who lose weight regain this weight within five years.

Even though medications and diets can be of help, these cannot be viewed as a solution and instead, those affected by obesity have to have a long term commitment to proper eating habits, increased physical activity and having regular exercise. There are several causes of obesity which include the following: overeating, having a diet full of simple carbohydrates, frequency in eating, having a slow metabolism, physical inactivity, psychological factors, among many others. Research has shown that the probability an individual becoming overweight or obese is significantly related with how the community in which an individual lives is laid out. People who live in communities with convenient, safe walking paths and easy access to fruits and vegetables may be more physically active and have healthier diets while on the other hand, people who live in communities where crime rates are high, numerous places where alcohol is sold, and access to open space and fresh food is limited may have a high potential for obesity. All of these can be controlled either through medical treatment or the personal discipline of the individual affected by this disease. The goal for the treatment of obesity is the patient gaining a healthier weight and not necessarily the ideal weight that he or she desires.

By the year two thousand and nine, the state of South Carolina had some of the worst overweight and obese rates in the United States with three out of every five adults in the state being either overweight or obese. Further research done by the Medical University of South Carolina (2012) showed that four out of every five adult in this state did not take the recommended number of five servings of fruit and vegetables per day and that half of the adults did not get the recommended amount of physical activity required in order to avoid obesity. Of those South Carolinians who were obese, over thirty five percent of them had high blood pressure, and a significant number of them had diabetes and coronary heart disease. This data serves to show how serious the problem of obesity has become within this state and the need for even greater efforts to be made to ensure that its prevalence is reduced and eventually eradicated.

In the nineteen eighties, what a person weighed in South Carolina was essentially their own concern, however, this was before the emergence of statistics that revealed the startling fact that sixty five percent of all adult Americans were overweight and that seventeen percent of all American children and teens were also either overweight or obese. Since the nineteen sixties, obesity in the United States has more than tripled and this has happened regardless of the sex or race of the people who are affected by it. It has been estimated that today, over thirty percent of all adult Americans can be considered obese and in additions, some thirteen percent of all children aged between the ages of six and eleven are considered overweight and are well on their way to becoming obese (Sakarcan, & Jerrell, 2007).

Both the federal and state governments as well as healthcare providers have labeled obesity as an epidemic due to the fact that it causes over three hundred thousand deaths every year and costs the economy billions of dollars in treatment. This has led many to ask the government to take steps to ensure that this epidemic is curbed within the state but this has been difficult because it would be an infringement on the rights of individuals. The government has been hesitant because the right to live whatever lifestyle one wishes to live is enshrined in the constitution and for the government to dictate what such a person should do in matters concerning their health would be a violation of this right. This is the reason why the government has been very hesitant to get involved in this matter directly and has instead launched campaigns all over the state to encourage and educate people how to live a healthy lifestyle that will prevent obesity and the complications that come with it.

The availability of local health data can be a very useful tool for the improvement of the health of the community within which this data is collected. It can show both the reality of problems and opportunities for their improvement. It can also give guidance to local action in support of the policy changes of government and help to improve the effectiveness of programs which have been put in place. However, the attempts which are being made to increase the accessibility and use of local health data faces many technical and institutional barriers, some of which have to do with concerns about health information privacy. Data sources can therefore be used in the determination of healthcare for the obese in the community. They help in the identification of this emerging health problem within the community and provide the information that is necessary in determining who within this community should be targeted for the treatment of their condition.

Furthermore, it helps in finding out exactly which age group is most likely to be affected by obesity and in doing so, ensures that those who would have become the victims of this epidemic are given the proper information which will enable them to change their lifestyles and live healthy lives (Singleton, 2007). These data sources are able to provide the information which is much needed for the identification of the obese levels in the community hence helping in finding the solutions whose purpose would be to curb the rising levels of obesity in the state of South Carolina. By doing this, the government will therefore be able to take the proper measures which are required to take care of this emergent healthcare issue within the community. Data sources ensure that healthcare issues (in this case obesity) are identified early enough and that they are dealt with quickly before they turn out to be uncontrollable.

Data sources ensure that the government has a comprehensive strategy which it can use to take preemptive measures to prevent the further increase of obesity within the state. Moreover, they provide the information and statistics which the government and the healthcare system needs to determine what it is going to do with the situation in the current situation, and in future if the problem continues to persist. This information enables those involved in future planning to get the full knowledge of the condition and this can be used to determine how the condition emerges and what steps can be taken to ensure that even if it is not completely eradicated, then it is at least controlled. Clinical data holds the prospect of helping in the transformation of South Carolina’s healthcare system (Gilliard, Egan, Lackland, & Woolson, 2004). It can do this by providing a greater insight to patients with obesity, the healthcare providers involved, and policy makers into the appropriate application of interventions, and quality and costs of care, these data offer the opportunity to accelerate progress in the finding of a solution to this problem.

Because the information from data sources are very important for the decision making which takes place at the state level concerning health, and that these decisions end up affecting millions of lives, it is necessary for there to be an accurate means for its collection. With this in mind, the strength and weaknesses of the data collected should be analyzed before it is put into any use. The need for the supplementation of this data with information from other sources should be considered so that there is no bias when a final decision is made concerning the use of the data. Those involved in the use of this data should also make sure that no information that could be crucial to the stakeholders is missing because if it is, then it would be disastrous to all those people involved. State policymakers should ensure that they regard all the information that has been gathered critically and from there come up with effective solutions which are in line with this information. In this way, there will be an assurance that the best is being done for the targeted group of the healthcare policy.