Childhood Obesity

Health Policy and Economics: Obesity in Children Obesity represents a critical health care issue in the U.S. today. Scientists and researchers of the field of reproductive medicine are well aware of the danger that excess body fat hence body weight has to patients. Obese patients have greater occurrences of infertility than their leaner counterparts do. The obese individuals have been noticed to be at a higher risk in case of pregnancy and additional prenatal complications. Obesity is defined as an unnecessary buildup of body fat. "Obesity is present when total body weight is more than 25 percent fat in boys and more than 32 percent fat in girls" (Lohman, 1987). Although childhood obesity is often defined as a weight-for-height in excess of 120 percent of the ideal, skin fold measures are more accurate determinants of corpulence (Dietz, 676-686; Lohman, 1987). The New York State has a childhood obesity crisis; it has been notified that approximately 1.1 million young people are obese in New York. The issue of obesity among children is fueling the cost of health care crisis; more than $242 million is attributed to obese children straining the NY State budget. According to information retrieved from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the terms “obesity” and “overweight” refer to weights that are greater than the weight considered healthy for a given height. The mass index calculation is applied to a person’s height and weight to link the body fat to the condition of being obese. It is no longer a wonder to find a child as young as six month old who is obese. This condition has become rampant as children may grow to a point that is an epidemic. For children aged 2 to 19 years, the rate of obesity has increased threefold over the last three decades (Sassi, 2010). According to Torgan, "The number of children who are overweight has doubled in the last two to three decades; currently one child in five is overweight" (2002). Several factors have contributed to the rising numbers of obese children. The causes of obesity at childhood include; poor eating habits, processed foods that contain high fat and sugar concentration, and lack of physical exercises. A survey conducted among high school students in New York in 2007 has indicated that teenagers do not consume more than five of their daily serving as recommended, 62% do not attain the recommended physical activities levels and 87% do not have scheduled physical activities and those who have do not participate daily. The cases of obesity among children account for more long-term health care implications. Most of overweight children tend to become obese at their adulthood. There is a 0.7 probability of being overweight during adulthood that can turn into overweight during adolescent period. This probability may rise to 0.8 in case either or both parents are obese. The main question in the present research paper is to identify the role played by policies and politics in regulation of obesity and body weight. Among the U.S. adults across the nation, a remarkable swift has been experienced in the increase of rates of obesity from 10% in the year 1990 to approximately 14% in 2007. Although these figures are approximated they however form the bases for the argument for the epidemic of obesity. The formulated policies gears toward seeking a solution to this situation. It should be noticed that for female, the influence of maternal obesity on the postnatal baby is dramatic. It entails increased morbidity and mortality owing to obstetric complications, abnormality of neural tubes, deformity of the newborn, not to mention the increased birth weight (Waters, 2011). The risk of diabetes to the newborn is also significantly high regardless of whether the mother is diabetic or not. In case of men, there is a reduction of testosterone, low concentration of sperms in terms of quantity and quality, where body mass index is over 30 i.e. obese. Despite the insufficient scientific data in support of the essential claims of the fight with fat, obesity and overweight has been a growing subject of a governmental concern. Recently, there has been an increasing concern that obesity is both a local and international epidemic problem. Another case happened between 1980 and 2004 when media’s focus on obesity raised exponentially from 62 articles in 1980 to over 6500 articles in the year 2004. Such a concern should reflect a scientific reality. To address obesity epidemic, medical specialists and nutritionists have turned to scientific treatment approaches. However, the issue of treating obesity is currently constrained by two major factors that are beyond medical specialists’ approaches. They are a lack of efficacy and cost. At some point, education has been suggested as a possible resolution to the issue of obesity. However, where education has been applied as a mean of solving this issue it has been proved to be inadequate. Even having a lot of information that has been passed to the public domain the epidemic is still rising. The rates of obesity have risen significantly for both children and adults during 2008. Regardless of nearly a decade of public health warning, not even a single state has indicated a decline in obesity in the United States. The suggested lifestyle changes moral suasion for public has also been affected to some extent as well. The civic policy approach is seen as a representation of the solution to genuine progress in fighting obesity epidemic. This issue is considered by the current politics of health policy. Previously, health policies were focused on the expansive public range mainly. Programs such as the Medicaid and Medicare, the Hill-Burton Act that established the national wide network of public health centers, and other public programs treated a nation as a society. Over the past two decades, most politics and policies within the health care excluding Clinton health initiative have resolved to control individuals’ private lifestyle or individual’s behavior. The changes in the health policy aimed at regulating individuals’ conducts are images of a dramatic shift in the U.S. public policy (Bolin, 2007). The other significant transformation in health politics entails shifting away from the backroom, a legislative process that is aiming at a more transparent procedure of making policies. This change is struggling with the issue of describing the underlying problem and outlining solutions. The outcome is a real shift in the approach of the policy to the system. The third change is based on the shift of the venue. Previously, the system of making policy worked due to executive and legislature-elective branches. Currently, the Judiciary plays a more significant part in the determination of the health policy. This marks a dramatic shift as well. Nowadays, these changes are highlighting the unique policy process that will eventually position issues of low or high value on the political table. The advocates who are working on the changes in the public policy of reproductive health care are persuading the policy maker, who public considers playing an important role in public ramifications. Currently, there is an increasing government involvement in controlling the individual’s behavior using the court in the public health field. Nevertheless, the policy making landscape may offer promises in resolving obesity epidemic. The current situation is a framing battle, which is likely to lead to certain policy solutions. From the on set, it is important to understand that coming up with a policy response calls for the explanation of causes of the issue. It is also essential to be aware of the role played by an individual in spreading obesity epidemic. The solution to this epidemic should be sought even in the personal responsibility (Waters, 2011). The food industry and allies are promoting this perspective in the policy debates. The food industry has demeaned the issue of obesity epidemic as a personal issue, and should be solved by making personal decisions. This perspective outlines obesity as a personal failure leaving the solution to the patients. The perspective is supported from central demographics in the U.S. public life. That is, obesity, just like smoking, is rampant among the poor. Recently, the civic policy issue discussed in Congress, the bill that was designed to protect the food industry from the lawsuits was tagged as the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act. Not all is lost for those who advocate for the personal responsibility in regulation of obesity; there is a gentle perspective of their views. The government officers who advocates for the policy of personal responsibility can take the initiative of educating the public on ways of improving their health issues by publicizing the dangers of obesity and overweight. The personal responsibility policy provides a number of policy solutions, which outline a concern for the intensifying epidemic of obesity, taking care of the imperatives of personal privacy, a free enterprise and an individual choice. Considering a situation when the issue depends entirely on individual’s decisions, a rational policy decision should influence those choices. Previously, the personal responsibility view was a single frame surrounding this issue. However, as obesity increased immensely, it has fractured the coalition, leading to differing perspectives from both the food industry and legislators. This difference has been activated by the economic cost (Jones, 2011). From the medical perspective, obesity is significantly expensive. The direct economic cost entails arresting unhealthy behaviors. The rising health care logic implies that individuals’ personal behavior, in the scope of personal responsibility frame, increases taxes toward supporting government health care and raising premiums for insurance. These considerations give an economic perspective to the fight against obesity. The medical cost for the diseases related to obesity such as diabetes and heart diseases is between $130 and $150 billion. There is about $60 billion lost because of the loss of wages and low production levels. This perspective has affected civic perception to a large extent. The obesity epidemic is raising the bars of health care costs at alarming rates just as tobacco does. Taking the economic perspective into account, the cost of obesity may not distract debates from personal responsibility approach. It is important to scrutinize the information provided by the food industry in food labels for misleading information. This course of action has shifted the focus from a personal accountability to external factors that may account for obesity. A different form of view and set of solutions are realized where the policy makers scrutinize the issue partially, focusing more on food industry than on individuals themselves. Such views include, advocating for detailed food labeling, restructuring children diets, fat content regulation, and hiking taxes for unhealthy foods and ingredients. Due to the conflict of interests, the politicians have failed to come up with a radical policy with regard to a regulation of the quality of processed foods from food industry. Nevertheless, the Judiciary is ready to take the courageous steps to regulate the situation. The politics in the health policy, emphasizing on the control of the personal behavior due to the court’s intervention, make the Judiciary a crucial locus of the decision. There are two lawsuits based on obesity whose intention formed by vulnerabilities have indicated positive results. The first lawsuits are against the antagonistic food industry that is being marketed to children. These lawsuits are the foundation of the legitimacy of outstripping the prints that have misleading information on the labels of processed foods. They further represent a dramatic shift in marketing due to an eradication of adverts in press that promote high fat, sugary, and low nutritious foodstuff that are prerequisite for overweight and obesity. In case these steps seem to be extreme, it is in record how the United States government has embargoed illicit drugs and sex. The State and Federal government completely agree on ways of regulation of these areas, though they have been once regarded as confidential and made personal choices only. There is a traditional view to the issue of politics and obesity. The past moves to control personal lifestyle indicating that the significant outcome, political, medical or civic health, does not depend on political shifts but on radical changes initiated by citizens regarding their own lifestyles (Heshmat, 2011). Obesity in children is a serious issue with many profound health and social consequences that often continue into adulthood. Implementing prevention programs and getting a better understanding of treatment for children is important to controlling the obesity epidemic. We as society should be more aware of the complexities of childhood obesity and prevention methods. Once we gain a better understanding of childhood obesity, we would be able to help improve the lives, health, and well being of today 's youth.

References

Elizabeth Waters, B. S. (2011). Preventing childhood obesity: Evidence policy and practice. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Heshmat, S. (2011). Eating behavior and obesity: Behavioral economics strategies for health professionals. New Jersey: Springer Publishing Company.
Jones, A. (2011). The Elgar companion to health economics, 2d ed. Washington: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Kristian Bolin, J. H. (2007). The economics of obesity. Bolton: Emerald Group Publishing.
Lohman, Timothy, G. "The use of skinfolds to estimate body fatness on children and youth." Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. 58.9 (1987): 98-102.

Torgan, Carol, Ph.D. (2002). "Childhood Obesity on the Rise." The National Institute of Health.
Sassi, F. (2010). Obesity and the economics of prevention: Fit not fat. New York: OECD Publishing.

References: Elizabeth Waters, B. S. (2011). Preventing childhood obesity: Evidence policy and practice. Heshmat, S. (2011). Eating behavior and obesity: Behavioral economics strategies for health professionals Jones, A. (2011). The Elgar companion to health economics, 2d ed. Washington: Edward Elgar Publishing. Kristian Bolin, J. H. (2007). The economics of obesity. Bolton: Emerald Group Publishing. Lohman, Timothy, G. "The use of skinfolds to estimate body fatness on children and youth." Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. 58.9 (1987): 98-102. Torgan, Carol, Ph.D. (2002). "Childhood Obesity on the Rise." The National Institute of Health. Sassi, F. (2010). Obesity and the economics of prevention: Fit not fat. New York: OECD Publishing.