Obesity: the Public Health Challenge of Our Time

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Whether and When Should Coercion Be Used?

Obesity is a major population health issue with vast health consequences for individuals and society, and not without reasoning. Various researchers delineate a discouraging picture and even more premonition future for public health. The predominance of this issue has increased two times among the grown-ups and minors during the past twenty years (Cunningham, Kramer, & Narayan, 2014). Moreover, over the same period, the obesity occurrence increased three times among adolescents (Ogden, 2014). As a result, more than half population in the United States is either overweight or obese. There is an occurrence of nearly forty thousand deaths and over 115 billion dollars in health care expenses due to the obesity issue annually. Nowadays, there is an increasing capability in defining the obesity problem; however, analyzing and establishing efficient methods towards impeding the worldwide issue of obesity is far more complex. There have been a few debates over the reasons for obesity of an individual; the problem of obesity tendency in society had been explored for the past decade. “Sedentary lifestyles, calorie-dense foods, large portion sizes, and excessive television viewing are among the identified contributors” (Bassett & Perl, 2004, 1477).

There have been various attempts to change obesity patterns, some involving law, as it becomes a grave threat to a population of the United States. For example, in 2013, the authorities of New York attempted to implement the Sugary Drinks Portion Cap Rule (Marcello, 2013). The essence of this regulation consisted of prohibiting the purchase of soft, sweetened beverages, the volume of which exceeded sixteen ounces, or half a liter. The reaction to this regulation was abrupt, as the issue of the partial ban was even not about the connection between the problem of obesity and the admission to the volume of the beverages. The central question that was raised by the proclamation of the Soda ban was “whether the city’s Board of Health (part of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene) had the legal authority to restrict the serving size of such drinks” (Mariner & Annas, 2013, 1764). On June 26, 2014, it was decided that by implementing the ban, the New York City Board of Health has outpaced its jurisdiction.

As for me, the strategy of prohibiting the large sweetened drinks does not make sense in the framework of public health protection. Not only would the prohibition not decrease the consumption of fast food and unhealthy diets, but such limitations would also have an impact on the families with lower incomes because of the taxes and the disability to buy a bottled drink or juice within their financial means. Moreover, several liters prohibited by the regulation are irrelevant, and they’re is not enough scientific evidence in support of the statements (Wang, 2013). Nonetheless, the implementation of the Soda Ban received a broad approval, as it was seen as an official effort of the authorities to improve the public health, despite the wrong means of the approach. This example depicts that health policies are often chased by the economy, not the improvement of public health.

References

Bassett, M., & Perl, S. (2004). Obesity: The public health challenge of our time. American Public Health Association, 94(9), 1477-1478.

Cunningham, S., Kramer, M., & Narayan, V. (2014). Incidence of childhood obesity in the United States. The New England Journal of Medicine, 370(1), 403-411.

Marcello, K. (2013). The New York City sugar-sweetened beverage portion cap rule: Lawfully regulating public enemy number one in the obesity epidemic. Connecticut Law Review, 46(2), 807-808.

Mariner, W. K., & Annas, G. J. (2013). Limiting “sugary drinks” to reduce obesity — who decides? The New England Journal of Medicine, 368(1), 1763-1765.

Ogden, C. (2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012. The Journal of American Medical Association, 311(8), 806-814.

Wang, C. (2013). Caloric effect of a 16-ounce (473-mL) portion-size cap on sugar-sweetened beverages served in restaurants. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 92(8), 1-6.

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Obesity: the Public Health Challenge of Our Time

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