Epidemiology (Case Study Sample)

Epidemiology Name Institution Course Instructor Date Epidemiology According to Zare et al. (2021). obesity remains among the most critical health concerns affecting a significant percentage of people in the United States. I explored the obesity prevalence data, comparing different sex, age groups, and ethnicity. The prevalence of obesity varies across different demographics of the population. From the comparison, the results of sex reveal that women have higher possibilities of obesity as compared to men. This difference may be due to factors of a biological nature, such as hormonal effects that affect a person's ability to engage in physical activity, or factors of a social and cultural nature, which determine the kind and quantity of food consumed. Other factors such as social norms, especially woman's body size and dietary habits, may also play their part in this difference. Another important influence that can be identified is age: obesity tends to increase. Obesity in adults reaches its peak in middle-aged people because their metabolisms slow down, they are less active, and their lifestyles change. That said, the fare rates are slightly lesser or increase gradually with age, probably owing to poor health conditions requiring constant diet and inactivity monitoring. Obesity rates from the graphical presentation reveal large racial and ethnic disparities. Overweight and obesity are higher in the black and Hispanic population than amongst the non-Hispanic white population in the United States. Therefore, it is possible to associate differences in the results with more general indicators of population health, such as nutritious food, neighbourhood characteristics, and healthcare access. For example, the access to physical and choice and availability of affordable healthy foods can affect the risks of obesity. People from lower-income communities and people of colour, which comprise a higher rate of the population, are less likely to engage in physical activity and have fewer chances to access healthy foods, which results in obesity. Policy Comparison From the policies, zoning laws for physical activity and the construction of recreational trails have emerged as the most efficient interventions against obesity. The construction of recreational trails reduced obesity by 1.61%, helped save 349 cases of diabetes and 5 lung deaths, gained 76 years of healthy life, and provided a medical cost offset of $292,000. Likewise, bright alcohol and food vending policies cut obesity by 1.40%, averted 334 new cases of diabetes, and led to 6 lower deaths, 73 years of a healthy life, and $239,000 of costs saved (Community Health Advisor). Such policies affect people's physical activity and provide other social advantages that improve community living standards. On the other hand, health promotion policies such as promoting stair usage in large and small cities have contributed little towards endorsing changes in obesity levels. For example, a shift to stair use in large cities means a 0.09% decrease in obesity prevalence, 22 fewer cases of diabetes but no deaths saved, and a medical cost saving of approximately $19,000. That said, while these things start to change behaviour, it would appear that their impact on reducing obesity is relatively small when compared to more holistic approaches such as zoning restrictions and trail creation. Role of data tools in social epidemiology The Community Health Advisor tool is helpful for social epidemiology because it enables s...