DQ: Discuss why nutrition is a central component in health promotion

Nutrition plays important role in attaining and maintaining adequate health status. In health promotion strategies, the nurse must consider the nutritional state of the patient. Nutrients are essential for the body to operate at a homeostatic level. For example, adequate nourishment enhances the immune system function. This means, lack of balanced nutrition can lead to decrease integrity of the immune system which can increase risk for infection and other inflammatory processes (Oz, 2017). Nutrition is essential for growth and development, repair and regeneration of tissues, reproduction and ultimately maintenance of optimum health. In addition, practice of unhealthy dieting can also contribute to decline in health status or increase the risk of developing noncommunicable diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes etc. (“Health promotion: Improved nutrition,” 1983).

One of the obvious challenges for adequate nutrition is affordability. Eating healthy among emerging population is considered expensive. The cheapest foods are the fast foods and these are easily accessible, but they contribute to development of various pathologic conditions (Martinez et al., 2018). Another challenge is the duration required for preparing healthy foods. Most healthy food takes time to prepare, however, most individuals in the emerging populations find it difficult creating time to make healthy foods. Some individuals adhere to strict cultural diets and some of these may contain large calorie content which make further increase risk of morbidity (Seguin, et al., 2014).

DQ: Discuss why nutrition is a central component in health promotion

Nutritional deficiencies negatively affect the normal functioning of the body. This can lead to disease conditions and ultimately decrease the quality of health of clients. Vitamin deficiencies can lead to a wide variety of health disorders from moderate to severe (example is vitamin A deficiency resulting in night blindness, immunosuppression). Similarly, excess nutrition can also cause disease. Nutrients are required in certain amounts and when this is exceeded, it may cause derangement from normal functioning. For example, excess vitamin A can cause alopecia, dry skin and liver problems (Gilbert, 2013).

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The well being of a person consists of their nutrition, physical activity, and healthy body weight (Healthy People 2020, 2022). All of

these factors contribute to the prevention of diseases, such as high cholesterol, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, or cancer (Healthy People 2020, 2022). As well as any other diseases a patient may be at risk for due to genetics. The nation suffers from a high rate of obesity, 1:3 adults are obese, 1:6 children and adolescents are also obese (Healthy People 2020, 2022). Nutrition is the central component in health promotion because of their impact on developing such things.

There are a few nutritional challenges the emerging population deals with, some entirely out of the people’s control. Malnutrition is commonly caused by unhealthy diets (WHO, 2018). The food systems available now do not provide nutritious foods for the people (WHO, 2018). In perspective, there are some areas of the world where people are not eating enough to gain the correct amount of nutrients needed to survive or maintain a healthy lifestyle (WHO, 2018). Whereas on the opposite end, some people are eating too much food, of which are also not nutritious, filled with fats or sugars, and can commonly end in obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease, high blood pressure, as mentioned previously (WHO, 2018). A common nutrition challenge is something called hidden hunger (WHO, 2018). This is where the individual appears to be healthy, however they suffer from vitamin and mineral deficiencies (WHO, 2018). A consequence of this is anemia, which affects 613 million women worldwide, and also plays a large role in maternal death (WHO, 2018). Another aspect of malnourishment is the common fad diets that are circulating. Nutrition deficients affect more than the BMI of a person. Individuals who are malnourished may experience diseases such as, rickets, hypocalcemia, scurvy, vitamin K deficiency, pellagra, iron deficiencies, beriberi, protein energy malnourishment, and osteomalacia (WIC, 2018). Deficiencies of vitamin K can result in severe heart issues (WIC, 2018). Nutrition malnourishment can cause cell injury, as well as many other health issues. Health is wealth.

Healthy People 2020. (2022). Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-lhi-topics/Nutrition-Physical-Activity-and-Obesity.

Women, Infants, and Children. (2018) Nutrition Deficiency or Disease. WIC Nutrition Risk. Retrieved from https://health.mo.gov/living/families/wic/localagency/wom/pdf/341-definition.pdf.

World Health Organization. (2018). The Nutrition Challenge. Food and Agriculture Organizations of The United Nations. Retrieved from https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/277440/WHO-NMH-NHD-18.10-eng.pdf.

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Thanks for a great post. You rightly pointed out that evaluating primary research through critical thinking, three essential skills are analysis, evaluation, and deduction. Permit me to elaborate on the essence of critical thinking in research work. The goal of academic research is to create new ideas, views, and logical reasoning (Ekstrom Library, 2021).  A researcher does not perform these scholarly activities in a void. He strives to seek relevant and previous information on the research subject and develops a logical case. Research processes include collecting and analyzing data, but that’s just a part of it. The whole picture also centers around exploration and investigation because the hub of research process is about collecting data, evidence, reviewing literature, asking questions, developing answers, and putting them all together honestly and prudently without biases. Research involves constant reflection and revision which requires a lot of critical thinking (Ekstrom Library, 2021).

Reference

William F. Ekstrom Library. (2021). Critical Thinking and Academic Research: Intro – University of …https://library.louisville.edu › … › Ekstrom Library