Introduction to the Problem

The problem under investigation in this research is the issue of obesity and weight management. This topic was selected because it the issues is affecting many people today around the world and most significantly in the United States. Thousands of people worldwide are dying from obesity and overweight related illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure among many others (Obesity & weight control: Health risks, weight loss & bariatric surgery, n.d.). Therefore, it has a huge impact on the healthcare system since it has increased the problems that healthcare professionals and facilities are facing. Hospitals are now congested mainly due to diet related illnesses, obesity being at the top of the list, which causes short staffing due to the increasing patients numbers relative to providers’ numbers. The providers, especially nurses, may then suffer from burnout and thus affecting the quality of care that they provide. Several weight management programs have then been created in order to tackle the serious problem of obesity. Therefore, conducting a proper research on obesity and weight management programs is very crucial since it will help in providing in-depth understanding of the whole issue and thus useful in developing and implementing ways that can curb the problem by proper implementation of these programs. This will improve the conditions of healthcare facilities and eventually the quality of care provided.

The Problem

The problem is obesity and weight management programs. Obesity is a medical condition that occurs when an individual has excess body fat or weight that might have some significant effect on his or her health (Hu, 2008). On the other hand, weight management is the process of embracing long-term lifestyle modification to keep a healthy body weight on depending on the age, gender, and height of an individual. They include methods such as eating heathy food and increasing the levels of physical activity. Weight management programs are then the initiatives that are created in controlling the weight of individuals in order to control such conditions as obesity. Managing one’s weight through these programs is very important part of their health because they avoid being overweight and obese to reduce the risks of medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. The intake of diet considered unhealthy, lack of physical exercise and practicing unhealthy lifestyles such as too much intake of alcohol, smoking may lead to increase in weight, and thus a person is considered overweight. This is when the body contains too much body fat above the required amount. Obesity then occurs after being overweight when the calorie intake of a person goes higher than the amount of energy that is burnt off every day. This obesity issue is then being mitigated in many countries through the weight management programs. The programs are categorized into three many groups that include, clinical, non-clinical, and do-it-yourself programs (The National Academies Press, n.d.).

Significance of the problem to Nursing

Obesity has become a pandemic in the United States and many healthcare professionals including nurses have considered being the most pressing issues of health currently. It has become the top of the priorities in the US since about two-thirds of adults are either obese or overweight. Since nurses have the most important role in health care, they are most affected by this epidemic and are also in the forefront of managing the problem because they responsible for implementing the programs in the facilities and among their patients. Nurses are affected by obesity in that it increases the number of patient they attend that might wear them out, as they are required to provide care to many patient beyond their ability. This then affects the quality of care that they provide and may eventually result in poor patient outcomes. Moreover, obesity may complicate the basic nursing interventions to the affected patients such as skin care, resuscitation and assessment measures, intravenous access, altered drug absorption, and respiratory challenges. Therefore, these professionals should take action in becoming more informed concerning obesity and to put themselves in a position as the educators and role models to their patient and their families as well as the community (Rowen, 2009). Besides, nurses play a significant role in ensuring the success of the weight management programs since they can effectively implement them and educate their patients concerning these programs in order to manage their weight and avoid health complications.

Purpose of the research

The purpose of this research is to identify the health risks and effects of overweight and obesity in people, and the essential role of obesity and weight management programs. For example, individuals who are overweight or obese are at an increased risk of developing serious illnesses. Besides, it may lead to many chronic conditions. The conditions are such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease, or high levels of triglycerides, cholesterol (The health effects of overweight and obesity, 2020). It also causes diseases such as gallbladder disease, mental illnesses such as anxiety, and depression. There are also breathing problems and sleep apnea, including body pain and physical functioning difficulties.

There are essential programs such as do-it-yourself, nonclinical, and clinical programs. The programs. The programs have a variety of interventions, which include the treatment intensity, cost, and the degree of the involvement (Programs for and approaches to treating obesity, n.d.). The do it yourself programs are individually formulated. Hence, they involve varying interventions. The category involves any form of effort, which an individual does, to loose weight by herself or himself. For example, an individual may decide to loose weight by decreasing the amounts of calorie intake. In the case of the nonclinical programs, they are often franchised commercially. They are often developed by a company, and often involve guidance and instructional materials, which are typically prepared in consultation with the health care providers. Besides, such programs are often managed by licensed or qualified health care providers (Programs for and approaches to treating obesity, n.d.). In the case of the clinical programs, they involve programs which hare provided by a licensed professional. The professional may or be or may not be part of a system of a commercial franchise. Hence, the services are provided by an individual professional.

Research questions

The research question is essential in enquiring about overweight and obesity management programs. The research question will enhance efficient groundwork for the entire research process; hence, it requires good research questions to prevent the research from suffering from errors. The research questions are such as:

· Is obesity a serious problem?

· What are some of the factors, which cause or expose one to obesity?

· Is obesity harmful to an individual's health?

· What are some of the economic consequences of obesity and overweight in society?

· What are some of the steps to be taken to fight obesity?

· What is the importance of obesity and overweight management programs?

· What are some of the interventions employed by management programs for overweight and obesity?

The questions will help in providing a focus on the entire research process. They also decide on what direction the research takes. Moreover, they enhance the identification of resources, such as other scholarly studies, as reference materials.

Master's Essentials that aligned with your topic

Some of the master's essentials, which aligned with my topic: obesity and weight management programs are such as quality improvement and safety, clinical prevention, and population health for improving health. Therefore, continuous quality improvement in the management of the area of overweight and obesity in the healthcare organization is essential (A guide to baccalaureate education for nursing, 2015). For instance, the skills and knowledge concerning the management of overweight and obesity, enhance quality care. Hence, improve safety among individuals. Moreover, quality improvement through evidence-based practice, in areas concerning the management of obesity and overweight is essential for the welfare of the people.

In the case of clinical prevention and population health for improving health, it focuses on the prevention and treatment of illnesses, such as chronic diseases, communicable diseases, including the health disparity and inequity (A guide to baccalaureate education for nursing, 2015). Most chronic illnesses are often caused by obesity and overweight. Hence, implementation of clinical prevention and population health activities is important in ensuring the safety of the people.

References

Abstract

Introduction

The Campbell Soup Company was begun in the late 1860s as a partnership for canning vegetables, especially tomatoes (Shea & Mathis, 2002). Anderson & Campbell set up their operations in Camden, New Jersey, where there was a significant manufacturing presence, but their marketing was focused on images of gardens and fresh food (Shea & Mathis, 2002). In 1876 Anderson left the partnership, and many of Campbell’s relatives joined the venture (Shea & Mathis, 2002). Canned foods were still an emerging product form in America, however their popularity was growing as was the capacity to transport and distribute products over a vast area, even nationally (Shea & Mathis, 2002). The company continued to grow, and it was an early adopter of radio and magazine advertising, which helped to promote Campbell Soup to new heights as one of the most well-known and loved American brands (Shea & Mathis, 2002). The company went public in 1956 (Shea & Mathis, 2002). Campbell Soup continued to grow and expand it s product lines int eh latter half of the twentieth century, including the introduction of meals that could be prepared using soup as a base, rather than just selling the soup for soup (Shea & Mathis, 2002). After the turn of the millennium, there was a slow down in growth. Over the past decade and more, despite the company’s giant size and revenues of $8 billion per year, revenues were lagging, losses were becoming the main return on investments in new strategies, and new products were failing (Wiener-Bronner, 2018). Shareholders, of which descendants of the original founders represented about half of all shares, were at odds with more focused activist investors, and efforts were diverted into board level debates and battles, rather than corporate needs (Wiener-Bronner, 2018). The turning point for Campbell Soup, and its downfall, was the repeated use of deception in marketing the taste, freshness and health of its products.

Organization Type and Strategies

Campbell Soup Company is a multinational manufacturer of household products, with a focus on ready to eat soups. Despite its large size and the wide distribution of products, manufacturing takes place in the United States, and the primary market is the domestic American household consumer market (Shea & Mathis, 2002). The most popular products, chicken noodle soup, tomato soup and cream of mushroom soup, account for a majority of sales (Wiener-Bronner, 2018). The industry is currently undergoing a massive upheaval driven by cultural change and emerging preferences (Cardello, 2018). While overall the ready-made food market is growing in America and globally, multinational food manufacturing companies are getting a smaller and smaller share of this market while emerging small producers of fresh or non-mass produced foods are taking this share while expanding the market (Cardello, 2018). Assumptions have held for decision makers in the food manufacturing for decades, such as the idea that people go to supermarkets, and to some extent “blindly toss their products into the grocery cart” (Cardello, 2018, n.p.). This true of Campbell Soup Company, but also their major competitors One important reason for the failure to adapt is that the competencies of ready-made food manufacturers is mass producing food, and this cannot work with the distribution needs of fresh prepared and small-batch ready-to-eat food (Cardello, 2018). The industry is in crisis, with most of the chief executive officers (CEOs) including the CEO of Campbell Soup Company, terminated in just the last few years (Cardello, 2018).

Table 1: Sales trends in decline (Singh, 2018)

Key Players and Industry

There were many kinds of stakeholders in the ready-made and condensed soup market. These include regulatory bodies like the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Agency, consumers of soup, competitors, distributors and retailers. Organizations that are not usually considered central to the industry that have been gaining importance are the public health agencies and authorities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved with health concerns (Phillips-Connolly & Connolly, 2017).

The industry itself is becoming less dense, and less dominated by established multinational players (Phillips-Connolly & Connolly, 2017). There is an increasing number of very small niche market soups with small regional distribution, and many of these become new entrants at the national level. The main approach has been the use of fresh foods, with some of these requiring refrigeration of the soup and higher spoilage risks for retailers and consumers. Because of this, the other large multinational such as Progresso and Lipton continue to be major competitors, but the real threat has been the local and niche market substitutes.

Figure 1: Market share dominance in a declining market (Scout Finance, 2016)

The Campbell Soup Company was begun in the late 1860s as a partnership for canning vegetables, especially tomatoes. The company continued to grow, and it was an early adopter of radio and magazine advertising, which helped to promote Campbell Soup to new heights as one of the most well-known and loved American brands. After the turn of the millennium, there was a slowdown in growth. Over the past decade and more, despite the company’s giant size and revenues of $8 billion per year, revenues were lagging, losses were becoming the main return on investments in new strategies, and new products were failing. This situation did not occur overnight, but rather it was a changing environment along with discoveries of unethical behavior by the company. The turning point for Campbell Soup, and its downfall, was the repeated use of deception in marketing the taste, freshness and health of its products.

Competitors

Competition in the domestic ready-made soup industry includes corporate giants such as General Mills, Unilever, Nestle and Kraft Heinz, as well as smaller producers that have becomes established in niche areas, often with a health focus. One example of this is Amy’s Kitchen, which has been making clean food with green characteristics such as vegan and GMO free for about three decades. General Mills is the maker of Progresso soup, a leading canned brand that competes directly with Campbell’s Soup brands. These companies also compete on the basis of ready to eat snacks. Kraft Heinz is another major player in the ready to eat food category, although it is dwarfed by the market share of General Mills, which is only a fraction of the size of the Campbell Soup Company market share. Unilever is a company based in Europe, with dehydrated soups that compete as a substitute canned soups. Nestle is somewhat similar to Unilever in that the soup brands are focused on a European market, and dehydrated. New niche markets have developed in relation to canned soup, including the organic, GMO free line of Amy’s Kitchen, which is small, but it has been growing for several decades.

Problems and Issues

False health claims

The American Heart Association (AHA) earns revenue to support their cause by selling product endorsements (Messerli, Rimoldi and Bangalore, 2017). These endorsements are intended for products that meet the criteria of heart healthy foods or meals (Messerli et al., 2017). In 2013 the endorsement of the AHA resulted in claims of fraudulent activity and deception by both organizations (Messerli et al., 2017). The issue was the sodium content of the soups (Messerli et al., 2017). The AHA requirement for endorsement as a low sodium meal required a maximum level of 140 milligrams (mg) of sodium, but the Healthy Request soups which were endorsed under the program had over 400 mg per serving, and non-endorsed Campbell Soup products had more than 800 mg of sodium per serving (Messerli et al., 2017). Campbell Soup Company was developing a distinctly sinister character in terms of the repeated themes of deception and marketing false claims.

Previous deceptive practice scandals

This was not actually the first time that Campbell Soup Company had been caught in the act of deception. In the late 1960s it was Campbell Soup Company that was targeted by the FTC in relation to the use of marbles in the soup during marketing photography (Thorson & Duffy, 2015). The marbles were used to prop of the ingredients in the soup, which would otherwise fall to the bottom. By having the ingredient chunks sit on the marbles, they were lifted out of the soup making it look healthier and heartier (Thorson & Duffy, 2015). This event was considered a major turning point, and a landmark case in marketing standards and the identification of deception marketing practices (Thorson & Duffy, 2015).

The Campbell Soup Company had also been caught before in relation to false health claims, as previously this had occurred in the late 1980s. As part of their marketing efforts, the company began making claims in relation to its soup as part of a healthy diet, and a means of avoiding heart disease and cancer (Andrews, Burton & Netemeyer, 2000). In fact, these claims angered the National Cancer Institute, who had never approved or endorsed the products but were quoted in marketing material related to the description of a healthy lifestyle and diet (Andrew et al., 2000).This caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who further investigated the claims in relation to preventing heart disease. Campbell Soup Company had claimed that since the soups were low in fat, the soup met the healthy lifestyle guidelines that were stated as part of a diet to avoid cancer and heart disease (Andrews et al., 2000). The FTC did not agree, and specifically pointed to the high sodium content of the soup as evidence that the soups were not healthy, and not part of healthy diet. This was in 1989, almost twenty five years before, and yet the company was still continuing to try the same tricks and games. Consumers, however, are far more sophisticated today, and they have a better understanding of nutrition and nutrition labels.

Negative health impacts of product

Public health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local public health authorities have increasingly promoted healthier lifestyles, including a healthier diet, as a means of promoting health and wellness (Rehm, Monsivais & Drewnowski, 2015). Campbell Soup Company products contain high levels of salt, monosodium glutamate (MSG) which has been implicated in allergies, sensitivity, blindness and child hyperactivity, and often simply the word flavoring without further information. Campbell Soup products do not, however do much to meet a persons nutritional needs, with no nutritional value being more than 5%, and that criteria being fat (Campbell’s, n.d.). Vitamins and minerals for nearly all soups are zero, with the best ones having as much as 2% of the daily requirement for iron (Campbell’s, n.d). This is not a product that can meet anything more than the calorie needs of an individual. This is especially important in the context of the products that are marketed to children, of which there are many, most of them adorned with Disney cartoon characters and attractive packaging (Campbell’s, n.d).

Table 2: Nutrition information for Incredibles 2 soup