Undeniably, health issues are become the most debatable in the global arena. One of the tremendous problems concerning health is the obesity. In the recent past, many people are obese, especially in the developed nations. Overweight has caused a lot of problems, leading to a persistent increase in the cost of healthcare, as well as increasing changes of developing diabetes. What many healthcare practitioners and public ask if whether the government should intervene in controlling diet related issues. In this case, there are conflicting views asserted by people on government involvement on health issues.
Government decisions to control diet is seen as a violation of rights and freedoms of its citizens. Therefore, the government is not justified in interceding the decisions of the people, even if the decision was on a just course to improving health of citizens. Many citizens assert that the government has no say on what they eat. Additionally, based on financial issues, the government will spent a lot of resources and money in implementing the changes. For example, the government will not only say by word of mouth, but rather act. Therefore, the government should not have a say in controlling the diet of its people, this is because the strategy requires a lot of money (Henson & Hawkers 30).
The way people eat should be controlled by self-discipline and personal motivated reasons. Hence, government involvement in controlling diets of its citizens is not right; the eating habits of people need to be independent and directly related to personal decisions and self-discipline. In everyday life of individuals, privacy is the key factor that individuals want to be distracted. Government involvement controlling people’s diet will be an impediment of privacy; hence, they should not have a say on what people should eat. It is evident that, even those who are overweight would not want their diet to be controlled by government (Smith 12).
Banning of foods in various places, especially those that are legal curtails individuals their right to happiness, liberty, as well as life. For example, in some countries the government has banned some drinks and food in schools, hospitals, and dining facilities (Smith 25). In the contemporary society, the power of a government depends on peoples freedom. It is believed that, the government takes away the freedom it has provided to the citizen by interfering with their type of food. The government do not provide what people eat, meaning individuals eat what they can afford.
Parenting and family is the best place for socialization and is among the first agents of socialization. The government should not dictate what people eat, but rather leave that to parenting. Everyone in society need to be socialized towards good eating habits, instead of allowing the government to control parents and family need to focus on instilling responsible eating behaviours. Moreover, if the government is allowed to control what people eat, it means it will be controlling the entire life of the citizens. This is because the government will influence productions and sales in the entire economy. This implies that allowing the government to have a say on how people should eat, means allowing them to control the entire life of the people (Henson & Hawkers 45).
On the other hand, many scholars believe government should have a say in the food people take. Perhaps, when government is given powers to control food that people take, it will indirectly be reducing its cost towards healthcare. In the government, people are special human resource, which determines other sectors of the country such as political, social, and economic. Hence, the government need to control unhealthy eating habits of those who are putting their lives in danger. In the contemporary society, the government is fighting to control and treat the increased rate of obesity and diabetes, of which this can be prevented by controlling what people eat. Generally, the government should inform people on health eating habits, but leave them to make own decisions on what to eat.
Work Cited
Henson, S & Hawkers, C. Trade, Food, Diet and Health: Perspectives and Policy Options.
London: Blackwell, 2010
Smith, K. The Take-Control Diet. New York: Springer, 2005
