Healthy People as a Roadmap to Nation\'s

Healthy People as a Roadmap to Nation's Health

The objective of this work is to select a health event and discuss the implications for nursing practice if you held each of Smith's concepts. This work will determine the media exposure of individual and community risk reduction activities and specify which determinants are the focuses of risk reduction measures. These measures will be analyzed for the potential for risk reduction in individuals, families, and communities. This work will further locate two relevant websites for each lifespan group and discuss the relevance of each website as well as examining the significance of Healthy People as a roadmap for the nation's health.

One of the goals of Healthy People is to "promote health and reduce chronic disease through the consumption of healthful diets and achievement and maintenance of healthy body weights." (Healthy People, 2011) This means that individuals will: (1) Consume a variety of nutrient-dense foods within and across the food groups, especially whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat or fat-free milk or milk products, and lean meats and other protein sources; (2) Limit the intake of saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, sodium (salt), and alcohol; and (3) Limit caloric intake to meet caloric needs. (Healthy People, 2011)

I. Potential for Risk Reduction

Healthy People sets out a method for reducing risk of chronic disease through changing eating habits and limiting certain foods so that the individual can attain and then maintain a healthy body weight. This requires that the individual, family and community adhere to a healthy dietary intake and limit eating foods containing saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt and alcohol. This has a great potential for risk reduction however, for the individual and family that lives a busy lifestyle, the potential for risk reduction is decreased when the family regularly consumes fast food products due to these products containing the ingredients that are to be avoided toward healthily food intake. This will require a change in lifestyle in terms of the eating habits of the family.

II. Websites

Health.com is a website that contains information on nutrition including information of restaurants and fast foods, healthy cooking and recipes instructing how to cook foods in the way that makes them provide the best nutrition with the least caloric intake. This website is also informative concerning the use of herbs and spices in the pursuit of cooking. This website is informative for all adults and families and assists them in reaching their healthy eating goals. The website Kidshealth.org provides information for parents, kids, and teens about healthy eating and offers recipes as well as entertainment for kids to educate them about how to eat healthy. Kids are instructed to: (1) eat a variety of foods; and (2) eat less of some foods and more of others. (Kidshealth.org, 2011)