Rising Of Obesity Levels - Case Study Example

Rising Of Obesity Levels Rising of obesity levels Introduction Rising of obesity levels has become a phenomenon in today’s world. The Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom should employ different strategies to manage increasing rates of obesity. Both countries have to take action in preventing that issue. Governments have a duty to take a proactive stance in reducing obesity levels because they are constitutionally obliged to ensure the health of all citizens. Remarkably, international law specifically includes the provision and maintenance of the best standards of physical and mental health as part of the basic human rights. The International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) mandates all governments in the world to realize progressively the adequate standards of physical and mental health. The United States and the UK are parties to this covenant and its provisions are binding on the two countries by virtue of their membership. Subsequently, the US and the UK have a legal and moral obligation to ensure the reduction of obesity levels among their citizens because obesity is a health issue. The increasing obesity levels necessitate governments to play a preventive role in its reduction through approaching the issue from a number of factors including health, food labeling, and behavioral factors. Obesity brings health complications, which in numerous instances have caused the death of obese persons. This fact necessitates governmental intervention to address amicably. The Status of Obesity in US and UK The population of obese people in both the United States and the United Kingdom has been on the constant rise for several years now. In the UK, for instance, the population of the obese population has doubled over the last twenty-five years (Noo.org.uk, 2015). The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington indicates that, recently, almost two-thirds of all men and women in the UK are overweight. According to US News and World Report of 2011, the number of obese persons in the UK is expected to rise to 26 million from the previous 15 million figures. The study also predicts that the percentage of obese persons in the UK will rise from the current 26% to about 48% for men and from 26% to about 43% for women (US News & World Report, 2011). The obesity situation in the United States of America is similar to that in the UK. According to a study conducted between the years 1988 to 2008, obesity in the US has risen by double digits. The study predicts that the number of people who suffer from obesity will rise from the current 100 million, which was the figure that the study reported in 2008, to about 165 million people that will be obese in 2030. The report also indicates that the US and the UK have the highest number of obese people as compared with the other members of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) (US News & World Report, 2011). The population of obese people in the United States will rise from the current 32% to about 50% for men and from 35% to about 50% for women (US News & World Report, 2011). Obesity is associated with eating unhealthy foods that are better tasting, which commercial entities have promoted extensively in both nations. Additionally, professional opine that obesity also results from individuals’ eating too much and neglecting to engage in any strenuous activities. Various studies have shown that obesity also arises from obesogenic environments, which are environments that encourage unhealthy eating and little or no physical activities. These environments are found in urban environments, which have the kind of comfort that is capable of facilitating obesity. Cars, televisions, fat-saturated foods, salt-saturated foods, and enticing marketing of these foods are elements of obesogenic environments that contribute to the rising levels of obesity. The Health Problems Associated With Obesity Obesity contributes to various health problems such as type-2 diabetes, cancer, stroke, high blood pressure, and heart complications. According to a recent study, a healthy man has chances of living a longer life as compared to an obese man (Nhs.uk, 2015). Specifically, an obese man is 50% more likely to acquire type-2 diabetes, 30% more prone to cancer of the colon and about 25.5% more likely to develop heart conditions including high blood pressure and stroke. For women, an obese woman is more likely to develop type-2 diabetes at 13 times more than a healthy woman. Obese women are also more prone develop high blood pressure and having a heart attack at 40% and 30% higher chances than healthy women do respectively (Noo.org.uk, 2015). Economic Factors Associated With Obesity Obesity has various implications on the economic state of individuals and the country. The two major economic implications that obesity has related to the amount of money that the government pays towards its control programs and the amount of money that individuals pay for medical bills and payment for physical exercises (Hammond & Levine, 2010). A report indicated that the UK government spent nearly £4.2 billion in 2007 as the direct costs of treating obese persons. This year, the report indicates that the government will spend close to £6.3 billion for direct treatment of obesity, overweight persons, and related complications. The report further indicates that the indirect costs of treating obesity and overweight persons could amount up to £27 billion this year alone. The experts who were consulted in the report predicted that by 2050, the NHS costs that will be incurred to treat obesity and overweight conditions would be more than 50% of the figures that were being reported this year (Noo.org.uk, 2015). In addition to the direct costs of treating overweight persons, social care costs that are given to local authorities for taking care of house-bound persons who are suffering from obesity and related conditions including diabetes, arthritis and heart complications, and those persons who need walking assistance and home modifications to cope with obesity and overweight may be significantly high. Reports indicate that local authorities spend close to £352 million a year on providing social care for chronically obese persons (Noo.org.uk, 2015). The treatment trends in the US are similar to those in the UK. In the US, direct medical costs for diagnosis and treatment of obesity and the related illnesses such as stroke, heart disease and arthritis is significantly high, and it is projected to rise with the rising population of obese people (Hammond & Levine, 2010). Solutions to the Obesity and Overweight People Problems in the UK and US Physical involvement and control of food labeling is one of the most popular methods of controlling obesity in both countries. The method is a policy that seeks to promote the adoption of healthier lifestyles as a way of minimizing the incidence of obesity, which has been adopted on several levels in UK. The NHS is the custodian of the policy and implements it on a national level. Both the UK and the U.S. have further adopted food-labeling activities. Food labelling activities comply with various international directives such as the OECD Guidelines for Consumer Protection and the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer protection. These guidelines propose legislative interventions by the state towards ensuring that food products are labelled sufficiently, especially foodstuffs that target children. This labelling is intended to inform consumers of food products about the content of the food that they consume. The OECD and UN guidelines advocate for the reduction of consumption of fat-saturated and salt-saturated foods by young children to combat obesity and other illnesses. Food labelling also serves to assist the people to make informed choices and decisions regarding the foods to consume and those that ought to be consumed minimally. The U.K government has already launched the change4life Program that advises individuals on healthy eating plans and engagement in physical activities. The program seeks to sensitize the public on the consumption of obesity-causing food, and the need to avoid them. In addition to the change4life program, the UK government has adopted policies that require proactive participation form everyone in combating the obesity menace. For instance, the government requires food manufacturers, hoteliers, and the retailers to reduce the amount of unhealthy ingredients such as saturated salts, sugars, and fat in producing foods. It also places an obligation on this group of persons to encourage people to take more fruits and vegetables as part of their dietary intakes. The government has also taken the responsibility of informing the public on the kind of exercise that they should undertake. In the US, there has been a wide range of government programmes and legal pronouncements that the authorities implemented. The national clinical guidelines, labelling of the molecular components of processed and packaged foods, educational and recourse to social media have been the strategies for recovering from obesity that the government offered to the people. However, even with the progress that these strategies have achieved, the problem of obesity persists in society. Experts advise that the government should implement policies that address environmental factors that encouraging eating, as the resolution of the problem in totality Conclusion Obesity is among the most prevalent health concern in both the UK and the USA. It has been on a gradual rise over the years. Currently, nearly half the population in the two countries is obese or on the verge of being obese. Governmental intervention has been crucial in taming the menace, which experts predict will escalate to crisis levels in the future. Food labelling, policies restricting unhealthy food production, and sensitization programs are among the steps that the government has undertaken towards the resolution of the menace. However, even with the steps the government has taken, the problem has not been resolved. In fact, experts opine that the problem is increasing daily. The government needs to take additional measures such as ensuring strict compliance with the food labelling policy and investing in healthy lifestyles by creating stadiums and other exercise facilities that people will access easily. Additionally, the government should undertake sensitization problems to inform the people of the need to adopt healthier lifestyles. References Hammond, R., & Levine, R. (2010). The economic impact of obesity in the United States. Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome And Obesity: Targets And Therapy, 285. doi:10.2147/dmsott.s7384 Nhs.uk,. (2015). Britain: the fat man of Europe - Live Well - NHS Choices. Retrieved 28 June 2015, from http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/loseweight/pages/statistics-and-causes-of-the-obesity-epidemic-in-the-uk.aspx Noo.org.uk,. (2015). Economic impact :: Public Health England Obesity Knowledge and Intelligence team. Retrieved 28 June 2015, from https://www.noo.org.uk/LA/impact/economic US News & World Report,. (2011). Obesity Continues to Balloon in U.S. and U.K.: Study - US News. Retrieved 28 June 2015, from http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/diabetes/articles/2011/08/26/obesity-continues-to-balloon-in-us-and-uk-study Read More