There are multiple ways to tailor health promotion throughout the lifespan, however, my approach would consist of separating individuals by age groups and addressing their needs by age-appropriate activities. For instance, seniors in high schools are at a stage in their life where they began to prepare for their future. Factors influencing their life consist of planning for college, their physical appearance, and lack of proper nutritional intake. Considering their current lifestyle, it is important to tailor health promotion activities that these high school students not only understand, but also are able to digest and act upon. Perhaps, this age group can be educated by promoting extracurricular activities that are both engaging and entertaining. For example, an anonyms survey can be distributed in the school requesting students to select their most desirable sports to play. This way their opinions are acknowledged and their willpower to participate is much higher. Furthermore, distributing or displaying nutritional diagrams in the gym or at lunch can teach them the consequences of an unhealthy diet. Since the media portrays thin, lean, and muscular bodies as acceptable and attractive body types in our society, these children are more prone to wanting to look this way. On the contrary, media also displays fast food, soda pops, sweets, and alcohol consumption as a norm of today’s lifestyle (Edelman, 2014). Teens are very self-conscious about their image during their four years in high school. During this time, they tend to compare themselves to models that are presented on TV, idolize celebrity figures, and aspire to look like them. Therefore, educating this group about what is healthy and what is harmful to the body is significantly important. Inadequate nutritional intake can lead to serous illnesses. Furthermore, a few ways to educate these students can be by bringing in a dietician to discuss appropriate eating habits and what type of foods can boost energy for them to see results. Also, there could be a program customized and scheduled on weekends where students could meet a dietician who could help them grocery shop for healthier foods. When addressing a senior center, we have to consider that they most likely have some type of illness and are dependent on the staff for assistance. Also, we have to consider the medications that these individuals take and consider food-drug interactions. Since elderly people have more health concerns and dietary restrictions, it is crucial to tailor health promotional activities to ensure that the activities are in their best interest. For example, as we age it becomes more difficult to participate in physical activities, elderly become more fatigued, and some may require wheelchairs for daily living. Overall, everyone is not sufficiently educated about proper dietary intake or knows the adequate amounts of food we need to consume for each food group. Therefore, emphasis must be placed on creating simpler solution to address this lack of information to the general public. Educating the public on how to read food labels for dietary information can be very useful for the younger population. This could in turn change their dietary habits and benefit them in the future.

Source: Edelman, C. & Mandle, C. L. (2014). Health promotion throughout the life span. (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.