In this essay I will be both describing and evaluating the different methods used to promote and protect public health in the U.K.

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Karlie Jane Whitmore

P5- describe methods of promoting and protecting public health.

M2- explain methods of promoting and protecting public health.

In this essay I will be both describing and evaluating the different methods used to promote and protect public health in the U.K. The main aims of promoting and protecting public health are to improve the general health of the population and to reduce health inequalities within the U.K. The government is a key part of all of this as they have produced many official documents, papers, reports and legislations in order to enhance overall public health. One of these documents is the White Paper which focuses on making choices in terms of health easier; this can be read in my appendix 1. In order to reduce health inequalities the government brought out an action programme and set targets and goals that they wanted to be reached by 2010. Some of the targets for this plan include aspects like, reducing smoking in manual social groups, preventing teenage pregnancy and supporting teenage pregnancy, improving housing conditions for children in disadvantaged areas and many more.

I will now place the main methods of promoting and protecting public health into three categories; health promoting activities/health education, specific protection and environmental.

Health promoting activities/health education:

Healthy eating campaigns-

This campaign was set up as a focus on nutrition, trying in many different ways to improve it so that obesity levels would decrease. This in turn would have an affect on the diseases linked with obesity and poor diets, like coronary heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. One of the main recommendations that we should all follow is to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day in order to maintain a healthy diet and reduce the risk of us contracting any chronic diseases. Yet many of us are not doing this as the average consumption of fruit and vegetables a day is only three. It is important to understand that it is not only about eating the right things in order to keep healthy but we must also take part in regular activities and exercise too. The five a day (5 A DAY) programme set up by the government had two main aims in order to increase the amount of fruit and vegetable consumption, these were to:

  • Raise awareness of the health benefits
  • Improve access to fruit and vegetables through targeted action
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The five a day (5 A DAY) programme have five main ways of aiming to achieve their targets, which are all underpinned by an evaluation and monitoring programme. These five ways include:

  • National School Fruit Scheme
  • Local 5 A DAY initiatives
  • National/local partners-government health consumer groups
  • Communications programme including 5 A DAY logo
  • Work with industry, including producers’ caterers and retailers.

Therefore healthy eating campaigns are a good and effective way of promoting and protecting public health as they set guidelines for us all to follow and they make us more aware of how we can be healthy ...

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Star rating of 3 This assignment is logically structured. It covers P5 and M2 of unit 12 on public health. Strengths of the assignment include the layout, references to legislation and regulations and the independent written content for the M2 criterion. All of the content required by the examination board has been covered. However, at pass level there is an over reliance on the use of at least one of the core textbooks and there is no referencing nor a reference list. The assignment could be improved by using independent research which is then summarised and paraphrased and appropriately referenced.