Course: Weight Optimization

General

General
Weight Optimization Homepage
Introduction

The problems we are going to explore in this course are well outlined in these two quotes from the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) website:

Obesity - “Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Once considered a problem only in high-income countries, overweight and obesity are now dramatically on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings.”

Physical Activity - “Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. Physical inactivity (lack of physical activity) has been identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality (6% of deaths globally). Moreover, physical inactivity is estimated to be the main cause for approximately 21–25% of breast and colon cancers, 27% of diabetes and approximately 30% of ischemic heart disease burden.”

Because of the relationship between obesity and physical inactivity, the course is designed to help in understanding not only the size of the problem, but also the causes, health effects and benefits of prevention and management of both issues through exercise and weight loss. Also, it explores the relationship between obesity and physical inactivity.

The course is designed to help you:

Appreciate the main ways in which physical inactivity may be measured, its extent and causal factors in the population, and its influence on health outcomes.

Appreciate the main ways in which obesity may be measured, its extent and causal factors in the population, and its influence on health outcomes.

Appreciate the extent of the relationship between physical activity and obesity.

Understand the evidence base used to guide policy in reducing the harmful effects of obesity and physical inactivity on health.

This course is an Open Online Course (OOC) that has been adopted from Peoples-uni. It was further developed by NextGenU.org (NGU).

There are four (4) modules to complete, which include:

Module 1: Physical Inactivity and Health
Module 2: Obesity and Health
Module 3: Physical Activity and Obesity - Are they Related?
Module 4: Evidence-Based Interventions

Approximate time for completion of this course is 5 hours at an average reading rate of 144 words/minute.

Engaging with this course

To register for this course, complete the registration form. Begin the course with Module 1. For each lesson, read the description.

Each lesson comprises introductory remarks. You can click on the collections of resources in each module.

There is a forum on each module for reflection, and you will be able to add a new topic or respond to a previous one. You may want to share your learning from this and other readings, comment on the topics from your own experience, comment on others' posts, or provide feedback on how we can improve the content and/or presentation.

There is a final quiz to assess your understanding of some important concepts. Click on the hyperlinks to take you to these items in each topic.

Requirements to obtain the certificate

You may browse this course for free to learn for your personal enrichment. There are no requirements.

To obtain a certificate, a learner must successfully complete:

All reading requirements

All discussion forums

The final exam with a minimum of 70% and a maximum of 3 attempts and

The self and course evaluation forms

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Module 1: Physical Inactivity and Health

At the end of this Module, you should be able to appreciate the main ways in which physical inactivity may be measured, its extent and causal factors in the population, and its influence on health outcomes.

1 Page, 1 Forum
- Resources Lesson 1: Physical Inactivity and Health Page
- Reflection Module 1: Physical Inactivity and Health Forum
  In this activity, you will reflect on the information you have read about the relationship between physical inactivity and health.
  Step 1: Reflect on how the information you have read in the Resources section might be relevant to your setting.
  Step 2: Prepare a 200 - 400 words summary explaining:
  The risks of physical inactivity that are relevant to your area of practice.
  How the benefits of mental health can be relevant to your field.
  Step 3: To share your work, click on the “Reply” button under this post and paste your work in the “message” box. Make sure to reference others’ intellectual property when necessary. All references should follow 7th Edition APA formatting. For further instructions, see the resource on the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library: APA citation resource (N.B. references are excluded from word counts).
  Step 4: To complete the activity, you will need to reply to at least two posts made by your peers in a respectful and professional manner. Be sure that your post engages your peers' ideas by including a reflection on their comments, sharing ideas of other potential difficulties and parties involved, or asking thought-provoking questions. If a peer comments on your posting, please reply. To post a reply, click “Reply” on a particular discussion, write your feedback and then, click on “post to forum.”
Module 2: Obesity and Health

At the end of this section, you should be able to appreciate the main ways in which obesity may be measured, its extent and causal factors in the population, and its influence on health outcomes

1 Page, 1 Forum
- Resources Lesson 1: Obesity and Health Page
- Reflection Module 2: Obesity and Health Forum
  Reflect on the information you have read in the Resources section about the relation between obesity and health, and how this might be relevant to your setting. Feel free to post your reflections to the forum.
Module 3: Physical Activity and Obesity - Are They Related?

At the end of this Module, you should be able to appreciate the extent of the relationship between physical activity and obesity. The information may surprise you!

1 Page, 1 Forum
- Resources Lesson 1: Relation Between Physical Activity and Obesity Page
- Reflection Module 3: Relation Between Physical Activity and Obesity Forum
  Reflect on the information you have read in the Resources section about the relation between exercise and obesity, and how this might be relevant to your setting. Feel free to post your reflections to the forum.
Module 4: Evidence-Based Interventions

At the end of this Module, you should be able to understand the evidence base used to guide policy in reducing the harmful effects of obesity and physical inactivity on health.

1 Page, 1 Forum
- Resources Lesson 1: Evidence-Based Interventions Page
- Reflection Module 4: Evidence-Based Interventions Forum
  Reflect on the information you have read in the Resources section about the interventions to reduce physical inactivity and obesity, and how you think the dissonance between the evidence of benefit and the need for Public Health action might be reconciled, with relevance to your setting. Feel free to post your reflections to the forum.
Final Exam

Click here to start Final Examination
- Final Exam Physical Inactivity and Obesity Quiz
  Restricted Not available unless:
  The activity Course Registration is marked complete
  The activity Pre-Test is marked complete
  The activity Reflection Module 1: Physical Inactivity and Health is marked complete
  The activity Reflection Module 2: Obesity and Health is marked complete
  The activity Reflection Module 3: Relation Between Physical Activity and Obesity is marked complete
  The activity Reflection Module 4: Evidence-Based Interventions is marked complete
  
  Pass this quiz to qualify for a certificate. The pass mark is 8 correct answers out of 10 questions.
Course and Self Evaluation & Certificate

In this section, you can provide feedback about this course to help us make NextGenU.org better. Once evaluations are completed, you will be able to download your Certificate of Completion.

Click here give your feedback
- Course Evaluations Questionnaire
  Restricted Not available unless: The activity Final Exam Physical Inactivity and Obesity is marked complete
- Self Evaluation Questionnaire
  Restricted Not available unless: The activity Final Exam Physical Inactivity and Obesity is marked complete
Quiz and Certificate

Not available

This section includes a quiz and an opportunity for you to gain a certificate! To gain the certificate: 1) Take and pass the quiz and 2) You must have downloaded the Resources in each Module.

We hope that you have enjoyed the course and found it to be useful!