Public health nutrition is associated with the promotion of health and well-being through nutrition in order to prevent the nutrition related health issues in the population. In this regards the public healthy nutritionist play an important role as they are the experts in both food and nutrition (Combs & McClung, 2016). According to Ross et al., (2014) food and nutrition play a significant role in the maintenance of health and well-being as it provides adequate energy which is required to stay healthy. On the other hand it has been found that there are several chronic health issues that are associated with nutrition status of individual, for example, diabetes, cardiovascular risk, cancer, obesity and others. Effective diet with proper nutritional elements could help to reduce the risk of such chronic disease, in turn; poor nutritional condition could make the people more vulnerable to such chronic diseases (Ippolito, 2017). The health statistics of Australia has shown that half of the population suffer from the chronic associated with food and nutrition (aihw.gov.au, 2018). Due to such increasing health risk the health care cost and expenditure has also increased. The above conditions have contributed to high morbidity and mortality rate as well. Such condition has indicated that it is important to introduce interventions that could help the population to maintain food and nutrition related requirements and reduce the prevalence of chronic disease associated with food and nutrition (Raiten & Aimone, 2017). Hence, it is important to focus on public health nutrition and increase the service of public health nutritionist to control the nutrition related health complications. In this regards, this essay aims to explore the effectiveness of nutrition on chronic disease and importance of the role of public health nutritionist in health organization.
According to Mahan & Raymond, (2016) health issues cannot be developed by one food component or nutrient alone. In addition, the genetic, behavioural, social and environmental factors also associated with the nutrition related health issues. Due to the correlation between such factors, it becomes difficult to evaluate the impact of nutrition on health and development of various health issues (Ross et al., 2014). In addition, lack of health education is also responsible for poor understanding about the contribution of food and nutrition in healthy life. A balanced diet includes all the essential elements of nutrition in order to ensure effective growth, repair and maintenance of tissue. Hence it is required to maintain the amount of carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals appropriately in the diet in order to maintain positive health status and well-being (Combs & McClung, 2016). However, due to low consumption of fruits and vegetables along with behavioural factors such as smoking and alcohol intake has increased the prevalence of nutrition related health issues (Ippolito, 2017). In this regards, Australian population has been found to be one of the most vulnerable group to illness associated with poor or lack of nutrition (aihw.gov.au, 2018). Hence, diet related non-communicable disease such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular risk, iron deficiency, cancer and osteoporosis is highly prevalent in this country (Castrejón-Pérez et al., 2018).
Obesity is one of the major health concerns for the health department of Australia as two-third of adults and one-third of the children are suffering from obesity in this population (aihw.gov.au, 2018). According to Ivanescu et al., (2016) some of the contributing factors to obesity include improper diet, lack of physical activity and substance abuse such as smoking and drinking alcohol. It has been found that changes in lifestyle have impacted on the food habit and health behaviour of individual in an effective manner. With the development of varieties of food and beverages people has started to consume unhealthy food to an extent without caring about their impact on health (Archer, Pavela & Lavie, 2015). In addition, consumption of fruits and vegetables has been reduced. Further, high availability of sugar drinks and beverages has contributed to the consequence of obesity as well. With increase in the intake of high energy food decrease in physical activity has been noted and such imbalance in energy consumption and expenditure has contributed to the high prevalence of obesity (Ivanescu et al., 2016). Archer, Pavela & Lavie, (2015) has indicated that obesity is one of the major risk factor of other chronic disease such as cardiovascular risk, type 2 diabetes and even cancer. The health statistics has indicated that 63% adults are found to be overweighted in Australia and the proportion is increasing over time (aihw.gov.au, 2018). In this regards the public health nutritionist could help the population to reduce the risk of obesity by providing effective advice on food and nutrition. It would help people to understand the impact of improper diet and high intake of sugar beverages on their health, hence could encourage the people to modify their food habit and improve health status (Hughes, Begley & Yeatman, 2016). Due to such significance it is important to recruit public health nutritionist in every public health unit.
Another significant nutrition related health issue includes type 2 diabetes and obesity has been identified as one of the major contributor in the consequence of type 2 diabetes. In Australia 1.2 million people including children and adults have been identified with type 2 diabetes (aihw.gov.au, 2018). Due to lack of knowledge people fail to understand the appropriate amount of carbohydrate in their diet. On the other hand carbohydrate is the major source of glucose. Hence, high intake of carbohydrate results in the increase in the amount of glucose in human body which may lead to the development of type 2 diabetes (Ong & Ozanne, 2015). Furthermore, in public health unit different nutritional therapy has been provided to the patients that are unable to intake food orally or suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. For example total parenteral nutrition is one of such therapy in which high amount of dextrose is provided to the patient. Adequate amount of dextrose needs to be decided for particular patient in order to avoid the risk of increase in blood glucose level (Dominguez, 2015). Hence it is important to have adequate knowledge about food and nutrition in order to manage such things in health care service and a public health nutritionist contains effective knowledge about these things (Hughes, Begley & Yeatman, 2016). Therefore, it is required to recruit such specialists for safe and high quality health service.
Heart disease and stroke is the major contributor to the poor health status of Australian population. It has been found that about 3.5 million Australian suffer from cardiovascular disease (aihw.gov.au, 2018). It is notable that cardiovascular disease is associated with blood vessels and heart. However, unbalanced diet and inadequate physical activity are also considered as the risk factor of the illness (Eckel et al., 2014). In addition, behavioural aspects such as smoking and high alcohol consumption are also associated with cardiovascular risk (Stone et al., 2014). As per Eckel et al., (2014) cardiovascular disease is considered as nutrition related disease as it is associated with high cholesterol and fat. Hence minimize the consumption of saturated fat and trans-fat could be effective in order to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in an effective manner. Therefore, an experienced health professional is needed to take care of such nutritional factors associated with cardiovascular risk (Stone et al., 2014). The public health nutritionist plays the key role in managing nutrition and food related factors in the health care unit. They could help the people by educating about the negative impact of improper diet and behavioural factors such as smoking and alcohol intake on their cardiovascular system. Such contribution of public health nutritionist could increase awareness regarding proper diet and food habit. In addition, such effort could help to manage the issue of high blood pressure, another contributing factor of cardiovascular disease (Savastano et al., 2017).
The list of cancer associated with nutrition factors include cancer of kidney, liver, breast, oesophagus, colorectal, stomach and endometrium (Ekelund et al., 2015). On the other hand Zamora-Ros et al., (2016) has indicated that maintenance of weight is a vital factor for the patents with cancer. Thus, proper diet can be considered as the crucial factor in case of cancer. In Australia, 484 cases of cancer have been identified per 100,000 persons (aihw.gov.au, 2018). There are a few studies that have considered diet as effective factor to reduce the risk of cancer. However, the result of the study conducted by Zamora-Ros et al., (2016) has indicated that diet of people with and without cancer differs regarding particular dietary components. It has been found that there are some dietary components which could reduce the risk of cancer. For example, the fruits and vegetables containing anti-oxidants are effective for the patient with cancer (Ekelund et al., 2015). A specialist such as public healthy nutritionist has adequate knowledge about the foods that are effective for reducing the risk of cancer in an effective manner. Hence, it is important to discuss with a public health nutritionist in order to prepare an effective diet chart for a patient with cancer. Such nursing approach would help to provide patient centred care as well while understanding the health and nutritional needs of a particular patient (Hughes, Begley & Yeatman, 2016).
Osteoporosis is considered as a health condition in which the reduction in bone density occurs due to lack of calcium, magnesium and vitamin D. vitamins and minerals are essential components of a proper diet. The bone tissue renewed rapidly in order to replace the old bones with the newer one and replace the damaged bone as well. In this way the human body maintains the bone density and integrity. However, it has been found that at the age of 35 years, the bones becomes weaker and it break downs at a faster rate than it builds and excessive reduction in bone density due to such condition results in osteoporosis (Yun et al., 2015). Hence, it is important to include adequate amount of food components containing calcium, magnesium and vitamin D in order to reduce the risk of osteoporosis. In this regards, public health nutritionist could help to provide effective advice for preparing diet chart with food components that could fulfil the requirement of calcium, magnesium and vitamin D in an effective manner (Qiu et al., 2017). The health statistics of Australia has reported that approximately 2.2 million Australian are suffering from osteoporosis including 27% women and 11% men aged 60 years or more (aihw.gov.au, 2018). In order to reduce the prevalence of osteoporosis it is required to communicate with public health nutritionist to provide guidance to the patient with osteoporosis and aged people regarding their diet to manage their illness or reduce the risk as well (Savastano et al., 2017).
Iron deficiency anaemia develops as the consequence of reduction in haemoglobin level due to lack of iron. It is considered as the most common types of anaemia and pregnant women are most vulnerable to the illness (Lopez et al., 2017). In Australia 16% male and 20% females have been found to suffer from iron deficiency anaemia (aihw.gov.au, 2018). Due to lack of iron, the body fails to produce adequate amount of oxygen carrying red blood cells which lead to the consequence of iron deficiency anaemia. As the illness is highly prevalent among pregnant women it is considered as a great threat for the development of foetus and new born as well. There are some restrictions to several foods for the patients with iron deficiency anaemia such as citrus fruits as such fruits make it difficult to absorb iron (Camaschella, 2015). Hence, it is important to inform the patients with patients regarding food components that could help to maintain the iron balance and about the food components that are restricted. Such information could be communicated by a public health nutritionist as they contain adequate knowledge about food and nutrition (Hughes, Begley & Yeatman, 2016). Hence, it is required to recruit public health nutritionist in health care unit in order to reduce the risk of iron deficiency anaemia and provide adequate guidance to the pregnant women regarding their diet and give birth to a healthy child.
Morbidity is considered as the state of remaining unhealthy within a specific population. Poor nutritious condition is associated with high morbidity and mortality as well. Substantial morbidity related to a chronic disease impact on the physical, psychological and socioeconomic well-being of individual. In addition the morbid situation of patient affects the care taker and family members as well (Stoll et al., 2015). The nutrition related chronic diseases have been found to contribute in the high death rate of Australian population. It has been found that approx. 1.1 million hospitalization and 295 deaths occur due to cardiovascular disease in Australia per year (aihw.gov.au, 2018). On the other hand rate of deaths due to diabetes is also high, 16.4 deaths per 100,000 people (abs.gov.au, 2018). In addition, osteoporosis has contributed to increased rate of fracture in this population. For example, 42% women and 275 male are associated with the risk of fracture due to osteoporosis in Australia and in each decade, the prevalence is increasing by 40% (aihw.gov.au, 2018). Such morbidity and mortality rate due to nutrition related chronic disease has indicated the need for public health nutritionist in the health care unit who could help to create awareness regarding nutrition and nutrition related health issues, so that people could focus on healthy diet in order to remain healthy and improve their health status (Stoll et al., 2015).
Increasing health issues is associated with high health care cost and expenditure. Due to high prevalence of chronic disease, the demand for health service has also increased in last 10 years (Trogdon et al., 2015). As reported by the Australian Institute for health and welfare, the health care expenditure for chronic disease has increased by 135 in 2015-2016 (aihw.gov.au, 2018). Health care cost for cardiovascular disease has estimated as $ 7.74 billion (aihw.gov.au, 2018). On the other hand health cost for diabetes has been estimated as 4 1.52 billion, cancer has contributed to total health care cost of $ 4.95 billion (aihw.gov.au, 2018). It has been found that due to such high expenditure for chronic diseases the Australian government is facing difficulties in allocating fund for other specific disease or injury group (aihw.gov.au, 2018). Hence, it is important to focus on the prevention measure for reducing the risk of such chronic disease in an effective manner. In addition the treatment process needs to focus on multidimensional factors in order to introduce adequate nursing strategies for the recovery or effective management of such chronic diseases (Trogdon et al., 2015). In this regards focusing on the nutritional aspect would be a great strategy as it has been found that most of the chronic diseases are associated with poor dietary intake (Combs & McClung, 2016). Hence, the recruitment of public health nurse would be beneficial in order to provide advice for improving food habit to reduce and manage chronic disease.
Unequal access to health service is one of the major factors that contribute to the disparity in the health status of indigenous and non-indigenous people in Australia. Hence, the Australian aboriginals have found to be more vulnerable to chronic disease associated with poor nutritious status (Raman et al., 2017). Due various social disadvantages the aboriginal populations are unable to access adequate health resources. On the other hand, they lack education that is required to understand the impact of nutrition and behavioural factors on health and well-being. Due to such limitation to education and health resources the aboriginal population is found to suffer from various chronic non-communicable diseases (Wain et al., 2016). Raman et al., (2017) has indicated that rate of obesity is 62% higher in indigenous population and risk of cardiovascular disease is 37% high in this population as compare to non-indigenous population. In addition, the homeless people are also vulnerable to nutrition related chronic disease. Further the young generation are more addicted to unhealthy and high energy food along with sugar beverages and drinks. Hence, the risk of nutrition related chronic diseases are high in adults. Therefore, the adult or young generation can be considered as one of the vulnerable groups to nutrition related chronic disease (Amugsi et al., 2017).
The above discussion has indicated that food and nutrition play an instrumental role in the maintenance of health and well-being and reduce the risk of nutrition related health issues. In this regards, the public health nutritionist plays crucial role. The specialist could explain about the importance of nutrition to the people that are at risk of nutrition related health issues (Hughes, Begley & Yeatman, 2016). Savastano et al., (2017) has described that proper diet with adequate physical activity is essential for remaining healthy. The nutrition experts could guide the people with effective diet chart and physical activities that are essential for achieving good nutrition status and healthy life. The experts could educate the people and share knowledge about food and nutrition so that they could adapt healthy eating habit to remain healthy and disease free (Vidgen, 2016). According to Brunner & Welch, (2017) PHN play an important role in developing nutrition related policies in health organization that are required to meet the nutrition requirements of the patients in the organization. In addition the PHN could guide the health care staffs to remain healthy and provide adequate care to the patients (Hughes, Begley & Yeatman, 2016). Further, Savastano et al., (2017) have reported that scientific research on nutrition is important to remain up-to-date and PHN play vital role in such research. Hence, it is required to recruit PHN in the health care unit to improve the health service and reduce the risk of chronic disease through the improvement of nutrition status of the population.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that, it is important to focus on food and nutrition in order to remain healthy and reduce the risk of chronic disease as poor nutrition is associated with the development of various chronic disease. Highly prevalent chronic disease has been found to be associated with poor nutrition. Due to such increase in the prevalence of chronic disease the health care cost has increased to an extent. Such chronic diseases have been found to be contributed in high morbidity and mortality rate as well. Whereas most of the chronic disease has been found to be linked with poor nutrition, research has indicated improvement in nutrition status would help to reduce the risk of such chronic disease in an effective manner. Hence, it is required to consult with an expert about this in order to understand the importance of nutrition and the way to improve nutrition status. In this regards the public health nutritionist play an important role as they have adequate knowledge about food and nutrition. Recruiting a PHN could help to guide the patients with proper diet and physical activity and help the staffs to remain healthy as well. Their contribution could help to create awareness within people so that they could understand the importance of healthy diet and adapt healthy food habit to remain healthy and reduce the risk of chronic disease. Thus, it is required to recruit PHN in health unit to provide better service and improve the health status of the population.
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