Health policy and health promotion week 4 project

Children and adolescents usually experience many problems, both health and social problems, that may adversely impact their childhood life, and sometimes the effects extend into adulthood. One of such problems is poor diet and nutrition. It is worth noting that good nutrition and balanced diet during adolescence and childhood are essential for the growth and well-being of children.

Besides, it is vital to establishing good dietary habits that the child carries into his/her later life. Poor diet and nutrition during a child’s life have the potential of resultant poor health outcomes like early puberty- a risk factor for some types of cancers connected to hormones, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Poor dietary qualities in childhood are a risk factor for other chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and cancer, among others (Banfield et al., 2016). Some of the micronutrients deficiency among adolescents include iron, Vitamin A, and iodine deficiency. With the prevalence of the deficiency iodine and Vitamin A being four percent and twenty percent respectively among the adolescents.

Policy for Nutrition Diet Among Adolescents

The dire need to improve diet and nutrition among children and adolescents has seen both the Federal and State governments come up with various initiatives and policies. For instance, Georgia State has, over the years, enacted various policies to help improve the lives of adolescents in terms of diet and nutrition.

One of the current legislation at the Georgia general assembly is “HR 208 Georgia School Nutrition Association professionals; serving meals to Georgia’s students; commend”. The bill resolution was sponsored by four representatives, Nix Randy, England Terry, Jones Todd, and Dickey Robert (HR, 2021). This bill supports the serving of meals to Georgia’s students by recognizing the Georgia School Nutrition Association professionals for the work they are doing when it comes to giving meals to the students residing in Georgia.

The associated promoted the nutritional needs of all the children living in Georgia, collaborates with state agencies, community partners, educators, and administrators in their initiative. The group also advocates for the availability of better quality meals during the day and, in some cases, supper meals and after-school snacks.

The Role APRN in Assisting or Refuting the Policy

APRNs have a big role to play in terms of policy advocacy as they either contribute to influencing the progress of the policies during debates so that they pass and get implemented or fail altogether. One way is through writing letters to the legislators sponsoring the bill to the houses.

An APRN can write a persuasive and educative letter to the legislator explaining why the policy should be passed or not from the perspective of a professional (Thomas et al., 2016). APRNs can also play a role in assisting or refuting the policy is through supporting interest groups that advocate for the same policy.

The interest groups can then have added voices composed of professionals’ opinions, hence adding more weight to their course (Kalaitzidis & Jewell, 2020). For example, in the case of nutrition and diet, the APRNs can form coalitions or join hands with the Georgia School Nutrition Association professionals. Besides, APRNs can contact or meet elected officials to offer expert testimony that can help them in making informed policy decisions.

Influence of The Policy and The Use of Interprofessional Team
The policy has the potential of impacting the clinical practice as it will support the provision of a high-level diet to adolescents. The large-scale application of the policy means that the nurses may be required to participate in the community to help in serving the high number of adolescents.

The policy can also be used by the interprofessional teams in ensuring that there is comprehensive and coordinated care for the adolescents. For instance, even though nurses will be a central part of the program, nutritionists and other physicians are instrumental in ensuring that the food given or supplied has enough nutritional content that will help in ensuring that the adolescents have a better outcome (Eliot & Kolasa, 2015).

Conclusion

Poor diet and nutrition among children and adolescents has various negative impacts and therefore deserves enough attention. Among the initiatives to help in improving diet and nutrition among adolescents include policies. Currently, in Georgia, the policy at the general assembly focuses on ensuring that the Georgia School Nutrition Association professionals receive enough support and recognition to ensure that they continue their course in ensuring that the children living in Georgia get appropria