Maria is 15 years old and 74 pounds overweight. Her father is an uber driver who was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Maria is 15 years old and 74 pounds overweight. Her father is an uber driver who was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Her mother works for a cleaning company. She is overweight with lipid disorder (high blood levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides). She is taking two antihypertensive medications at present time. At a recent health science fair at Maria’s school, a student-led screening clinic documented Maria’s blood pressure at 141/92 mm Hg. The family immigrated from Nicaragua 3 years ago and they do not have health insurance.

During health science fair, the following data was recorded: 56% of the students with BMI 25.0 to <30 and 18% of the students with BMI 30.0 or higher.

Consider yourself a community health nurse.

• Is obesity a major health issue in the United States?
• According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NCHS, CDC; BRFSS, 2012), how is obesity defined?
• What is your role as a community nurse?
• What risk factors should be explored for Maria’s family for cardiovascular disease? Mention social determinants of health in this case. Incorporate the concepts of health promotion and risk reduction.
• Would you apply any of the behavioral change models to address health promotion and risk reduction in this case (theoretical frameworks of behavioral change / models discussed on Chapter 5 of textbook). Describe your selection.
• Public health nurses use statistics to demonstrate the need for obesity program development and community interventions. According to the most recent CDC data: What data were identified about obesity in children and adults?
• Is there a necessity of planning a community nursing intervention? How will you do that? Will you work alone or in collaboration / teamwork? Will you look for funding? How?
• If you decide to do a community intervention. How would you evaluate the community-level intervention(s)?
• Will you use social marketing to change health behaviors or beliefs, social or cultural norms, or community standards to improve health or benefit society. Which resources will you use?