According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children are considered obese when they possess a body mass index of more than the 95th percentile appropriate for their gender and age. Obesity is caused by ‘inheritance, consumption of sugary foods and lack of physical exercise’ (Genevra, 2013). Indeed, obesity has become a very great problem in the United States of America (USA) today. With the changing lifestyle, many people have found it difficult to prevent it. Hence, the paper establishes that the government of the United States of American should take the measures to fight the rise of obesity in the country. The paper analyzes the contribution of the government towards the elimination of this condition. It does this by focusing on its contribution in the regulation of diet through the creation of public awareness, imposition of taxations and banning of sugary foods such as soda, juice and sports drinks. It also highlights the initiatives by the governments of Southwestern Colorado, Richmond, El Monte and New York Cities to impose legislations to regulate the production, supply and consumption of the sugary foods. Finally, it looks at the criticisms of the opponents of these initiatives who criticize the government for meddling in diet issues, which to them, should be personalized. However, the paper agrees that the government should take the initiatives to fight the increase of obesity through imposing taxations, bans and educating the public on healthier diets to adopt.
First, it agrees that the government of the United States of American should take the measures to fight the rise of obesity in the country. Although people are always free to choose the food of their preference, it must be acknowledged that one of the major causes of obesity is poor diet. Many people have been suffering from this problem because of the consumption of sugary foods. Therefore, as the supreme authority in the land, the government should intervene and be concerned about the kind of food that the kind of food that the people consume. This can help in ensuring that they only get access to foods which can not increase their chances of contracting obesity.
Besides, the government should help to protect its people from obesity. As already hinted, ignorance is a major cause to obesity. Many people get obesity because of lack of knowledge on its causes and preventions. Therefore, this paper agrees that the government should participate in this course by educating the people. If they are given the right information, they will know exactly what to do in order not to endanger their lives. Education is power because it helps to disseminate knowledge which can be of great importance to the people. According to researchers, many people who use sugary foods such as soda do not understand they may be risky to them because they increase their chances of contracting obesity.
In San Francisco, there have been plans to help in the protection of the people from obesity. This will be done by hiking taxes on beverages and declaring a total ban on sugary drinks. This is a very good step in the elimination of obesity in the city. If enforced, it will bring additional resources which will be used in school programs. A third of all the funds will be used in the sponsoring of lunch and physical education programs. Many children suffer from childhood obesity as a result of the poor diet and failure to perform physical exercises. Because they may lack enough time to engage in such exercises at home, the program will grant them an opportunity to exercise their otherwise endangered bodies.
According to Hillary Seligman, obesity is closely related to food insecurity which can of course not be divorced from poverty. This implies that many Americans are getting obesity because of their poverty level. If they have enough resources, they can opt for a better diet which can help them to prevent diseases such as obesity. Therefore, it can be a wise idea for the government to economically empower its poor population to enable them adopts a good lifestyle and appropriate diet Aldhous, 2013). Such a program has been introduced in Los Angeles and San Francisco in which the extra revenue collected from fast food companies is deposited to the general funds. If such funds are used to support the vulnerable poor populations, they can be empowered and start living a good life free from obesity. This is a very good way of solving this menace once and for all.
The government should also actively participate in the eradication of obesity by promoting physical education. The main reason for the cause of childhood obesity is lack of physical exercises. With the popularity of modern technology, many parents compel their children to view the Television (TV) (Genevra, 2013). They do not care about the physical health of their children. Such children are always enclosed in doors throughout the day. However, the government should demonstrate its concern by encouraging such children to participate in the physical exercise. They do not understand that such activities lead to the production of a lot of calories which are in turn not fully burnt. In this regard, the paper suggests that the government should intervene and convince them to create enough time for the physical exercises.
Several efforts have been made in Telluride Town, Richmond and Elmont. Recently, such initiatives were taken by Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City. These were aimed at reducing the consumption of sugary foods. For instance, Mayor Michael proposed that there should be a total ban on the fast food companies which manufacture dangerous food staffs as far as obesity is concerned. However, in both cases, the additional funds realized would be used in the education of people on appropriate diets and lifestyles to adopt. Based on these efforts, the research paper concurs that it should be accepted as a good thing to be adopted by all the other cities across the country. Obesity is a very serious problem which should not be ignored (Genevra, 2013).
The government should impose taxations to the companies that manufacture sugary foods. Since it is these companies which produce such food stuffs, they should be made to act responsibly, not just thinking about maximizing their profits. Meaning, the government should introduce new tax regimes to such companies. This will make the production of such foods more expensive. As Leila (201) argues, they will ‘reduce the rate of their production’. This will be an important initiative because it will help to protect the consumers who are made vulnerable to obesity. However, for such a plan to succeed, it should incorporate the local population. The policy makers should not misuse such funds, but devolve it to the local populations.
The other way through which the government can eradicate the production of sugary foods is through their banning. As Aldhous (2013) exclaims, ‘since they are undisputedly harmful, sugar-sweetened soda, juices and other brands of sports drinks should be completely banned from the market.’ Indeed, this is the most absolute way of protecting the Americans from obesity. If stringent legislations are enacted, the government will compel companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and MacMillan to reconsider the quality and content of their products. The kind of foods which they manufacture is the ones which contribute to the high level of obesity in the country. If they are shut down, there will be no more ‘sugary foods to endanger the lives of Americans’ (Leila, 2013). They should not oppose such initiatives because they are aimed at saving the lives of the ordinary Americans.
Although the paper supports the interventions of the government in the eradication of obesity in the country, it agrees that may be a very difficult thing to accomplish. The kind of resistance received from these fast food companies need to be rethought. As profit making organizations, it is natural that they must criticize such initiatives. As the American Beverage Society argues, the imposition of heavy taxes and the restricting of these food products are unnecessary. It is a misleading, wasteful and destructive idea which can not help anyone. True to their assertions, these can not be the only measures to take. Instead, the government should come up with more creative policies such to promote public awareness on the significance of physical exercise and healthy lifestyles. The same sentiments are maintained by the National Restaurants Association which opposes the government for interfering on personal matters regarding diet.
In conclusion, obesity has become an issue of concern. There have been rampant cases of obesity amongst the children and adult populations in the US. As reported in this paper, this has been mainly due to the environmental factors. Many people have contracted obesity as a result of the consumption of sugary foods such as juices, soda and other categories of fast foods. Despite the fact that everyone is free to choose their own diet, the government is justified to intervene for the sake of saving its endangered population. Just the way it has been done in Southwestern Colorado, San Francisco and New York, all the other cities and states should also come up with such measures. They should come up with stringent legislations such the banning of such products or imposition of heavy taxation. This can help in reducing the rate of obesity in the country.
Works Cited
Laila, Kearney "San Francisco joins sugary drinks fray with tax proposal." Reuters. Issues & Controversies. Facts on File News Services, 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
Genevra, Pittman "Sugary drinks tied to obesity among preschoolers." Reuters. Issues & Controversies. Facts on File News Services, 5 Aug. 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
http://bit.ly/cxXOG Pediatrics, online August 5, 2013.
Aldhous, Peter. "Food Stamps Could Help US Trim Obesity Epidemic." New Scientist 219.2928 (2013): 10. Academic Search Complete.Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
National Restaurant Association Protests New York City’s Ban on Big Sodas (sidebar). ‘Issues & Conversaries. Facts on File News Services 11th Feb. 2013.Web 30th Oct 2013. <http:/ www.2facts.com/article/ib1800527>
‘Why New York City’s Mandate Won’t Work’ http:/ www.proxy.ulib.csuohio.edu:2050/login?url
