Childhood Obesity and Obesity

Policy, Politics, and Global Health

The public policy issue selected is childhood obesity. I selected this issue because childhood obesity has a considerable longstanding impact on the health of the public as well as the cost of health care. This is becoming a more significant issue in the public realm because childhood obesity emanates from the main reason that these children grow up into obese adults who might end up suffering a great deal of health problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2015), childhood obesity has more than doubled and increased fourfold in adolescents in the past three decades. Statistics indicate that by 2012, more than 33% of the children and adolescents in the United States were obese or overweight. This implies that there is a need for policy intervention addressing this health hazard.

Research studies undertaken have indicated that childhood obesity is a relevant public policy issue to the health of the general public. According to Karnik and Kanekar (2012), childhood obesity is a growing issue of concern with regard to the health and welfare of the child. The cause of childhood obesity is the disparity between calorie consumption and calories that are used up. There are several factors that are causal to this public policy issue, which include genetic, environmental and behavioral factors. The pervasiveness of childhood obesity is increasing in both developed and developing nations. It is ranked as one of the major health problems indicating that incidence of childhood obesity has amplified over the years. The augmented pervasiveness of childhood obesity may have detrimental ill health and transience repercussions in the adult phase of the child. In particular, physical, psychosomatic, and social health complications are caused as a result of childhood obesity (Karnik and Kanekar, 2012).

Sahoo et al. (2015) indicate that overweight and obesity are considered to have a substantial influence on both physical and mental health. Children that are obese have a high likelihood of remaining overweight into adulthood and are more probably to develop non-communicable illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular sicknesses at an earlier age than before. Environmental aspects, preferences in the standard of living, and cultural setting play fundamental roles in the intensifying pervasiveness of obesity across the globe (Sahoo et al., 2015). The mounting issue of childhood obesity can be contained, if society takes cognizance on the causes of the illness. Out of numerous constituents that affect childhood obesity, a number of them being more fundamental in comparison others. A collective diet and physical activity intervention steered in the community that starts at the school constituent is more efficacious at avoiding obesity or overweight. What is more, if parents put into effect a healthier lifestyle at home, numerous obesity complications could be avoided (Sahoo et al., 2015).

Reducing childhood obesity is a public health concern that has significant health and economic benefits. In accordance to Global Health Institute (2014), over a lifetime, childhood obesity has a financial encumbrance of $19,000 per child when compared to those of a normal child, which is an average of $12,600. The financial impact of childhood obesity are characteristically classified as direct, for instance medical costs, and indirect, like job nonattendance. The direct costs of childhood obesity consist of yearly prescription drug, emergency room, and outpatient costs of over $14 billion for the nation, together with inpatient costs that surpass $230 million. Approximately 30% of obese children become obese adults and the projected costs of treating obesity associated illness in adults is about $150 billion (Cawley, 2010). This indicates that if successful, the policy change could bring about per capita savings (Finkelstein et al., 2014). The financial impact of this policy is that it increases the price of the products that give rise to obesity. The positive impact of this policy change is to decrease obesity amongst children and at the same time producing substantial amounts of revenue for obesity prevention activities. For instance, according to Arbor (2014), a one percent increase in tax would have produced almost $14billion in tax revenue in 2010.

My personal view is that health is an important aspect for every individual and more so for children given that they have several years ahead of them. I believe that having good health is imperative in leading a good life. This also leads to less health complications. Therefore, I believe that policies should be put into place and implemented to increase the welfare of all human beings. The ethical principle that underpins my perspective is that of beneficence. The ethical principles of beneficence underlines that policies or procedures ought to be provided with the main endeavor of doing good for the people involved. Addressing Childhood obesity adds to severe health problems, for instance hypertension, orthopedic complications, hormonal disparities, and adult obesity. Psychosomatic, in addition to social issues are also regular comorbid disorders to childhood obesity (Perryman and Sidoti, 2015). In this case, the policy change being considered is intended to be of great benefit to the health of all obese and overweight children to ensure that that they do not become obese adults.

Part B

Decision Maker to Receive the Brief and why it Requires Attention

The decision maker who will receive the policy brief is Tim Scott, then senator of South Carolina. The main reason why the public policy issue of childhood obesity requires the decision maker's attention is because the state has one of the highest percentages of obese children, being 21.5% and 17.7% being overweight (Ogden et al., 2014). In addition, almost 67% of adults in the state are overweight with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or higher and 32% of these are obese with a BMI of 30 or higher (West, 2012).

Main Challenges of Addressing the Public Policy Issue

There are various challenges experienced in addressing childhood obesity as a public policy issue. One of the challenges is political challenges. In accordance to Andersen (2011), instigating policies that address obesity, for instance safeguarding children from junk food commercials and advertisements are likely to experience political challenges. This is because the United States has allowed minimal regulation on commercial speech. More so, it faces criticism and lack of support with some organizations making the argument that the proscription or regulation of such junk food advertisements is an infringement on civil liberties and does not solve the core issue (Andersen, 2011).

The other challenge is the constantly increasing time spent by children and adolescents in watching television. According to Powell (2013), television is a factor that plays a huge role in causing fattening amongst adolescents and children in America. More so, the more television they watch, the fatter they become. In the contemporary, the engagement of children with television screens, computer screens and also cellphones have risen radically. The advancement in technology continues to make this become a mounting challenge in the reduction of childhood obesity. At the present moment, children spend more than 7 hours each day watching television and it is this aspect combined with absorbed attention, exposure to publicizing and mindless eating that have become a surmounting challenge in the endeavor to decrease childhood obesity (Powell, 2013).

Primary Options and Interventions for Decision Maker

There are various primary options and interventions for the decision maker. One option is implementing excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. In particular, the option would take into account a per ounce excise tax for sugar-sweetened beverages and purchases. This increase in taxation is purposed to decrease the consumption level of sugar-sweetened beverages amongst children and adolescents. The tax increase will lead to the price increase in sugar-sweetened beverages. Therefore, children and adolescents will have to substitute these beverages with other beverages with lesser or zero calories. This will improve their nutritional content and thus improve their health and wellbeing going into the future (Kristensen et al., 2014). In accordance to research undertaken by Kristensen et al. (2014), an excise tax of 1 cent for every ounce on sugar-sweetened beverages is projected to reduce obesity by 1.6%age points on children between 6 and 12 years old. The same would give rise to a 2.4%age decline in childhood obesity amongst children between the ages of 13 and 18 years in the next 15 years. In a similar manner, putting into place such excise tax on all on all SSBs could diminish childhood obesity pervasiveness by 2.9%age points.

A second option is the implementation of a ban or proscription on television advertising for fast food products that targets children and adolescents. In particular, this would take into account restriction of advertising for fast food with the main purpose of limiting and diminishing the level of consumption of foods and beverages that high calories and low nutrient levels by children and adolescents. However, a key aspect to take into consideration in this policy is whether such proscription will have a direct impact on the target group. For instance, this considers whether children that are aged 12 years and below understand the persuasive intent embedded in advertisements and therefore not have the capacity to cognitively safeguard themselves from the impact of such advertisements (Kristensen et al., 2014).

A third option takes into account physical activity programs that take place after or even, during school hours. The main endeavor of this policy option would be to mandate schools to have physical activity programs on certain days to improve the physical health of the students. This would be an obligation for students of all grades in schools (Kristensen et al., 2014). A fourth option is zoning. Zoning restraints can limit the concentration of fast-food places or can institute buffer zones between schools and recreation regions and businesses for instance fast-food eateries, convenience stores, and mobile food sellers. It is deemed that larger concentration of neighborhood fast-food establishments is linked with augmented obesity. In turn, this suggests that by putting into place zoning regulations will have help in reduction of childhood obesity (Frieden et al., 2010).

Course of Action

The first option is considered to be the most effective intervention. In the instances of alcohol and tobacco, increasing prices by means of greater tax rates have been substantiated to have a positive impact in reducing the level of consumption. Therefore, the taxation of fast foods and beverages that are unhealthy would be considered to have a similar influence. The suggested policy change is the implementation of a two percent per ounce excise tax on sugar sweetened beverages and fast foods. This increase in tax will give rise to an increase in the prices of these beverages and fast foods, which will have a deterring impact on both children and adolescents consumption of foods that cause overweight (Frieden et al., 2010). The following is a persuasive course of action for the decision maker, including ways to avoid the challenges aforementioned.

There needs to be a sequential plan to be followed for the implementation of policy that is in the form of a bill in order for it be become legislated and eventually signed into law. The initial action plan will be to introduce the policy brief to the senator. In particular, the senator has the power and authority to advance this policy to become a law and thereby significantly helping in the reduction of childhood obesity. The first phase takes into account the introduction of the bill in the House of Representatives. It is imperative for the bill to be passed in the House. After this, the bill will be moved to the Senate. In this phase, the bill will be taken into consideration by a committee, which is encompassed in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (Congress.gov, 2016). The committee activity will be made up of holding hearings concerning the issues on the health policy change on child obesity and on this particular policy proposal on increasing excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. The bill will be developed much further and any other recommended changes shall be handed out to the full chamber. Once this is done, the bill proposal is taken by the conference committee to the House and Senate for approval. Once such approvals are ratified, then the bill will be signed into law (Congress.gov, 2016).

Evaluating the Success of the Policy (Top-Down Approach)

The four key ways in which the success of the policy using the top-down approach will be evaluated. The first aspect of evaluation will be to assess the magnitude to which the actions of executing officials and target groups were in line with the goals and processes that were initially outlines in the policy decision. Secondly, the evaluation will be centered on the magnitude to which the goals were achieved over time. In particular, this will examine the extent to which the impacts to the target group were consistent with the goals. The third way in which the evaluation will be assessed is taking into account the key factors that had an impact on policy output and influences and how they had an effect on the success of the policy itself. The evaluation will also consider whether the success of the evaluation was impacted by political aspects. It imperative to note that there are changes that take time in the setting where the target group is set. Therefore, the evaluation will consider the manner in which the policy was restructured over the course of time on the foundation of the emerging experience and the impact on the success of the policy (Sabatier, 1986).

Part C

Organization that has expressed interest in Childhood Obesity

An organization that has expressed interest in addressing childhood obesity and has been making major attempts and advancements in its reduction is the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation. This organization concentrates on the endeavor in building a culture of health in societies all over the United States. Taking into consideration that obesity continues to be one of the major threats to the health of children and adolescents in the United States, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been making considerable attempts to make certain that all children in the nation, irrespective of their setting and background, are able to grow up at a healthy weight. A decade ago, the organization made a $500 million commitment in an initiative of reversing the issue of childhood obesity to a rate of about 5% compared to the figures about three decades ago (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2015). In addition, in the past year or so, the organization placed a commitment of another $500 million over the next decade to propagate efforts to ensure that childhood obesity is decreased. This has been motivated by recent indication of progress in reversing the rates of childhood obesity. In addition, this will advance strategies that will facilitate in eradicating health inequalities that contribute to greater obesity rates amongst children of color and also those living in poverty across the nation (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2015).

CBPR Principles to use to work with the Organization to address Childhood Obesity

Explain how you could approach and collaborate with the organization or community

The main way in which I would approach and collaborate with the organization is by assessing the progress made up until now with regard to childhood obesity, the gaps yet to be filled and the subsequent steps for research and action. The organization would make it possible in providing resources and networking with individuals that have data and information necessary to implementing the policy change. In particular, engaging with the community necessitates plenty of staff, and the organization will help in this regard. In the same manner, there will be need for a great deal of research purposed to understand the manner in which various actions undertaken by teachers, parents and the community in general can help in decreasing childhood obesity.

Discuss how the goal of the community or organization aligns with your goal for the selected public policy issue

The goals of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is in alignment with my objective of reducing childhood obesity. My main goals is to ensure that the policies put in place are efficacious enough in the efforts to make certain that the rates of childhood obesity decline. This is to make sure that the well-being of children is addressed even as they grow into adulthood. This will reduce any health complications they experience in the future. At the same time, it will decrease the overall cost of health care incurred in treating childhood obesity, which has significantly risen in the past decades. The objective of RWJF is aligned to this in the sense that for more than ten years, the organization has been at work to make certain that all children grow up at a healthy weight. Its objective is to develop and improve public policy, community settings, and industry practices that can aid all children have a healthy life (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2015).

Discuss the possible roles/responsibilities of the community or organization members, including problem-solving and capacity-building roles

Members of the organization would play different roles in the action plan. One of the key roles and responsibilities of the organization will be in decision-making. To begin with, being of assistance with the funds necessary to implement the policy change to target groups, the organization will help in deciding on how funds are disbursed to various parties and stakeholders. Taking into account that in this approach there is minimal control, such decision-making will be beneficial in making certain that the implementation is successful. Another key responsibility for the members of the organization will be problem-solving. It is imperative to note that changes come about whilst implementing the policy change. This can give rise to problems in the execution. Therefore, members of the organization will play a key role in coming up with solutions on emerging management and resolution issues. Another role played by the members of the organization will be capacity building. In particular, capacity building within the community will be necessary in acknowledging and understanding the various barriers that preclude people from attaining better health. For instance, it will be necessary to understand that people in the society have various incomes and therefore different sedentary lifestyles. In a similar manner, it will be necessary to incorporate individuals from different backgrounds (cultures, practices, and ethnicities) in order to have an effective implementation of the policy action (O'Fallon, 2000).

Discuss key elements of developing a collaborative evaluation plan, using CBPR principles

The key elements of developing a collaborative evaluation plan through the use of community-based participatory principles involve the following:

• One key element is to make certain that the plan facilitates cooperative, equitable participation of all partners in all stages of the plan. In tandem with CBPR principles, the plan ought to generate processes that make it possible for all parties to take part and share influence in the linked change endeavors.