Episode’s Summary
The episode focus on public health by examining the behavioral physical and social problems affecting the modern society. Dr. Jackson who is the narrator of the episode highlights how the modern society has increased risks for the communities and offers alarming statistics on diseases formally associated with old age affecting small children and teenagers. He analyses how many modern pediatricians are struggling with Type 2 diabetes and of obesity in children as a result of lifestyles adopted by the suburbanites (Ewing et al., 2014). The episode associates the problems of unhealthy to the physical environment of buildings transportation and social structures that have failed to accommodate human life. The episode aims at improving communities’ health through the modification of the built environment in design and lifestyles.
Relationship between Episode 1 and Global Public Health
Chapter 1 and 2 of global public health focus on the promotion of health through an analysis of public health with aims, history and methods. The chapters focus on the restoration of health that has been impaired by disease and injuries, prevention of diseases, the protection of good health and maximization of the quality of life (White et al., 2013). The episode address similar issues on its focus of the modern society by evaluating diseases such as type 2 diabetes and the risk of obesity that threaten healthy living. The episode aims at improving the quality of life and restoring healthy communities through the modification of the environment to accommodate humans.
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The episode examines issue of transportation, nutrition and exercise as ways of restoring public health by building societies that offer human friendly activities. Healthy options promote walking to driving, nutritional foods as opposed to consumption of fast foods and embracing an active lifestyle rather than the promotion of sedentary life that increases obesity which leads to type 2 diabetes. Chapter 2 has examined the biological, physical and social disciplines of public health (White et al., 2013). The information relates to the episode focus on nutrition, exercise and human values and behaviors that influence their choices in lifestyles depicted in the episode throughout its analysis.
Critique
The information provided in the episode is relevant, valid and applicable to different aspects of life. The information on the current trend of teenagers with obesity and the possibility of parents of the teenagers outliving them is shocking and offers insights to public health to address the issue with more immediate and urgency that it requires .The episode description of life process such as how the build environment isolate human and promote reliance on vehicles for example for interaction with friends and family or the promotion of fast foods as easier solutions affects healthy living. The episode evaluation of biological physical and social environments, how hey influence lifestyles is informative, insightful and useful in addressing the health challenges facing the society today.
Public Health Problems
The main public health problems addressed by the book and relates to the episode are biological, physical and social. They involve nutrition, diseases, buildings structures, transportation, lifestyles and behaviors (White et al., 2013).The episode stresses on the most basic public health care problems in the modern suburban communities as overreliance on vehicles and driving leading to adoption of a sedentary life, poor consumption habits in relation to the risk of diabetes and obesity and the effect of the built environment such as building and structures (Ewing et al., 2014). It offers diverse information on public health problems on lifestyles and diseases through its detailed analysis of diabetes by examining its causes, effects and prevention measures especially to the young population and obesity with its detrimental effects on the society. An analysis on effects of the structures of building such as their location and accessibility that influence transport and limits exercise and fitness have been elaborately evaluated in the episode. To understand public health issues, the episode analyses public health problems from individual perspectives by examining individual choice and lifestyles.
Information on the Nature of Communities and Improvement of Public Health
The episode portrays communities as complacent and in need of improved systems to promote public health. Dr. Jackson views community as a system in need of modification of in its design and lifestyle. The episode address community form an individual perspective where individual suffer from health problems like obesity and the issues later evolve in the community to become an epidemic. Communities have the capability to increase and include extended families all living in the suburban areas which further expands the urban sprawl. The episode to focuses on the “community of the home” to emphasize on the creation of larger family units with experiences, resilience and healthy outlook Thus the episode evaluates communities in the light of improved public health with flexible living arrangements and neighborhoods that facilitate interactions. Development of communities with the ability to make choices to consume more nutritious and healthy foods, open to exercises such as walking and the presence of with community centers such as parks to improve on health issues such as depression (Ewing et al., 2014).
Episode’s Limitation
The episode lacked information on the immediate and urgent plans to improve public health issues like diabetes and obesity. With the increasing detection of type 2 diabetes in children and teenagers the episode need to provide a direct address to the problem but instead provides an in depth statistical analysis deficient in solutions, the episode could be improve through diversification of ideas by offering the society perspective on the issues of obesity and diabetes in relation to the suburban neighborhood and lifestyles. Future episodes should therefore be more involving and presents communities opinions, views and ideas on causes effects and solutions to public health problems including diseases like diabetes and lifestyles tendencies like obesity.
There exist a strong relationship between the issues discussed in the episode and those in the book concerning public health. The episodes evaluates how the spread of diseases such as diabetes is influenced by the urban sprawl. The book discusses the restoration of health impaired by disease and injuries, prevention of diseases, the protection of good health and maximization of the quality of life. Therefore the episode and the book evaluates communities through the public health lens to determine the necessary actions to promote public health in the society.
References
Ewing, Meakins, Hamidi, & Nelson. (2014). Relationship between urban sprawl and physical activity, obesity, and morbidity – Update and refinement. Health and Place, 26, 118-126.
White F., Stallones L., & Last J., (2013). Global Public Health, Ecological Foundations. Oxford University Press.
