Public Health Policies - Research Paper Example

This paper analyzes a major health problem, obesity, and the legal and ethical rationale for proposing three policy alternatives for resolving this chronic health problem. With the continuous challenge of guaranteeing public health it is not surprising that policymakers are looking for alternative policies to mitigate the negative effect of childhood obesity which at present appears to offer no solution. A primary apprehension about childhood obesity is that affected children have a tendency to carry obesity until adulthood, with the enlarged possibility of cardiovascular disease, Type II diabetes, and several other chronic illnesses (Saunders & Harrison, 2007).

Hence, it seems legally and ethically justifiable to immediately act in response through collaborative efforts between parents, communities, health practitioners, and policymakers. It is time to recommend alternative policies because these abovementioned individuals and groups have had necessary information and, still, the problem persists to rise. Even though parents are informed of the weight condition of their children, a lot of them are hesitant to publicly acknowledge or categorize their children as overweight or obese.

Most parents think of obesity as an aesthetic concern, not a health problem (Strychar, 2004). Hence, building awareness of health threats and encouraging correct response is a sensitive recommendation and alternative policies should move ethically to prevent aggressive discrimination. Attempts to address and mitigate childhood obesity should consider information dissemination, analysis, and intervention. The primary health, economic, social, political, and ethical repercussions of these problems suggest the need for collaborative efforts between private scientific funding organizations and the government (Strychar 2004).

Looking into the future, it appears that First World nations cannot allow the continuation of childhood obesity problem, weakening academic achievements, and absence of initiative to accept accountability (Thompson, 2004). If a country aims to flourish globally, then it has to institute groundwork of socially competent and bright individuals. Alternative standards of government policies are required. Three Alternative Policies for Childhood Obesity (1) The government should deal with the inadequacy of information by obliging stakeholders to provide it.

The Nutritional Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) should be enhanced to promote the competence of food-related companies through mandating comprehensive nutritional information. Nevertheless, it remains uncertain how to make nutrition information understandable for adolescent and children consumers. Additional studies are required on this matter. The ethical concerns addressed by this policy are (a) the conditions of food processing, crop growing, animal rearing, and product marketing; (b) the contribution of the food-related company to the larger society; and (c) the relationship between consumers, processors, and producers. (2) The government, alongside public schools, should safeguard children from publicity and advertising.

The government will be entirely accountable for the advertising sector. Due to insufficient budget allocations, several school districts have entered into an agreement with Channel One, which provides them resources, educational paraphernalia, and televisions in return for permitting Channel One to promote