APPLYING EPIDEMIOLOGY TO PROGRAM DESIGN FOR CHRONIC DISEASE

2 APPLYING EPIDEMIOLOGY TO PROGRAM DESIGN FOR CHRONIC DISEASE Chronic diseases are some of the health issues of concern that the epidemiology principle is trying to solve. By description, chronic diseases refer to health conditions that last one year or more and therefore, need ongoing medical services and limit activities of daily living. Even though several chronic diseases affect citizens of the United States, this assignment focuses on obesity among school children (6-11 years old) as the selected chronic health issue to apply epidemiology to develop a program to address the condition. The assignment includes a description of the most affected population, geographic region, and key characteristics of the affected population, and a description of the patterns of obesity among school children. The assignment includes health outcomes to be enhanced among school children with obesity, the evidence-based program to address obesity, and data needed to support the program based on the "SMART" method objectives. The assignment includes the stakeholders who can be involved in program planning, the program planning model to support the intervention including cultural and ethical considerations related to the program design. The assignment includes the funding source for the program and approaches that would be effective in marketing the obesity prevention program. The selected chronic health issue of obesity and the population Obesity is one of the chronic conditions that affect school-going children (6-11 years old) (Pearce et al., 2019). Childhood obesity is cited to have reached epidemic levels, especially in the United States (Sanyaolu et al., 2019). The most recent data shows that approximately 17% of US children have obesity (Sanyaolu et al., 2019). Among school-going children, obesity is a major health issue of concern because it affects all aspects of life such as mental, psychological, and physical health (Blüher, 2019)