Public Health Policy on Childhood Obesity

PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY ON CHILDHOOD OBESITY
Public Health Policy on Childhood Obesity
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Public Health Policy on Childhood Obesity
Obesity is a condition where fat has accumulated in excess in the body to the extent
where it may have adverse effects on health. The National Institute of Health defines obesity
more precisely as a Body Mass Index of 30 and above. Childhood obesity is accumulation of
excess fat primarily in children. In the contemporary society, the number of cases of
childhood obesity have risen to epidemic levees both in developed and developing countries
(Abel, 2016). This is a matter of key concern since in childhood is known to have impact
both psychological and physical wellbeing. According to Sun, Mensah, Azzopardi, Patton
and Wake (2017), obesity in childhood is likely to persist in to adulthood and is known to
increase the risk for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases
at a younger age. There are several factors that contribute to obesity. These include the
environment one lives in, lifestyle preferences and even culture. Generally, excess intake of
fat and/or sugar is implicated in development of obesity. Extensive research suggests that a
combination of the mentioned factors (excess caloric and fat intake) combined with decreased
physical activity are the major contributors to obesity (Baum, 2016). In addition to affecting
the physical and psychological wellbeing, childhood obesity could have profound effects on a
child’s social life, self-esteem and poor academic performance. This essay is going to discuss
a health policy on childhood obesity, provide a brief description of the same, explain why the
policy is important in health and outline the measures to be taken to enforce it.
Description of the Policy
The aim of the policy of the policy will be to reduce the number of childhood obesity
cases given their potential detrimental effects to health. The policy contains three distinct

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measures whose implementation would see a decline in the cases of obesity in childhood. The
three are explained next.
First, is imposing an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. The nutrient
composition of sugar is almost 100% simple carbohydrates. Nutrition experts refer to such a
food as containing empty calories, that is, their major contribution in the body is calories.
Research has demonstrated that nutrient dense rather than energy dense foods contribute to
healthier individuals. On the contrary, energy dense foods such as sugar sweetened beverages
are known to be risk factors for obesity. Imposing an excise duty on these beverages would
mean that their price will rise. Consequently, the purchasing power of consumers will be
lower. The result is fewer purchases. Lower consumption would lead to reduced risk for
developing obesity. There would also be a higher likelihood of consuming zero-calorie
beverages which do not have significant caloric content as pose health risk.
The second component of the policy is a ban on fast food television advertising
targeting children. Most fast foods are energy dense. They contribute high caloric intake. The
knowledge a person has about a certain product influences their attitude about it. Attitudes on
the other hand influences practice. Advertisement on fast food is usually presented as
attractive enticing to attract attention. Most children fall prey of the adverts contributing to
purchase (Laws et al, 2015). When a ban is imposed on such adverts, children will no longer
be exposed to them and potentially reduces purchase and consumption of fast foods. This is
because, they will have little knowledge of such foods.
Thirdly, the policy should require settings where children are mostly found to provide
healthy foods and have an environment that promotes physical activity. These settings
include schools, children’s sport facilities and child-care settings. A standard could be set for

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such settings to ensure that this is maintained. When the environment promotes a healthy diet
and physical activity, the incidence of obesity lowers.
Importance of the Policy to Health
Obesity in childhood is one of the greatest t public health challenges faced in the 21st
century. It is a global concern affecting children in all regions of the world especially the low
and middle-income countries. The most affected areas are the urban settings. The prevalence
of childhood obesity has risen at an alarming rate over the years. According to Ludwig
(2018), over 41 million children below the age of five were obese in the year 2016. About
half of these lived in Asia while one quarter lived in Africa. There are several factors that
contribute to obesity and are generally categorized in to three. These are genetic factors, lack
of physical activity and unhealthy eating patterns. This policy comes in handy to reduce the
incidence of childhood obesity. This move can impact the health children positively in
several ways. Several of these benefits are going be discussed next.
First, is reduction in the number of childhood onset non-communicable diseases.
Childhood obesity has been implicated in development of chronic illnesses among children
(Shanahan et al, 2015). These diseases include type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and
some types of cancers. These diseases were traditionally known to affect adults but
conditions such as obesity make them prevalent among children. When a child develops a
chronic disease, chances are that the disease will persist to adulthood. The cost of managing
the conditions can be high and most of a household’s oncome could be channelled to medical
bills. To make the matters worse, this will happen for a lifetime. This policy potentially
prevents such cases. It contributes to ensuring a healthy child and consequently a healthy
adult via prevention of the non-communicable diseases.