YOUR POLICY PRIORITY ISSUE - Essay Example

Owing to these statistics and its declaration as a national epidemic, it is important to recognize it as a public health policy priority issue. Its relevance is reflected in current sources of literary and empirical evidence (such as the data presented by the CDC). The policy priority issue has had a strong relationship with nursing practice, as will be proved in the following sections. The issue of childhood obesity is part of the health concerns of many. As a nursing practitioner, one would find this issue relevant to the current nursing pedagogy and policy prioritizing and making (Dehghan, Akhtar-Danesh, & Merchant, 2012), owing to a wide range of reasons.

As a person, I find it important to address the issue, not only because it has had direct impacts on my life, but also because it escalates by the day. It will become a bigger burden to millions of families and individuals in the near future if not much is done to reverse the prevailing trend. Speaking of the trend, I come to the second reason. A problem that continues to escalate by the measures described above, which involves more than doubles and quadruples, should be prevented the formulation of effective policies.

In addition, it should not only be treated as a national epidemic but should also be addressed by emergency measures, owing to the dire health needs of the populations affected. One would seek to understand the source of this problem and the reason it has escalated to the current extent. One of the key reasons behind the current trends in obesity prevalence in the United States is eating behavior, especially among children and adolescents. Families, at present, have less time to spend together because parents have to go to work or school while students have to go to school.

As a result, children and adolescents resort to fast foods, which have been associated with high levels of sugar and fat. There is also less time to engage in