Obesity Reduction and Public Health Policies
Proposed Public Health Policy Moreover, children are frequently unable to engage in physical activity outside of school; "if playgrounds are unsafe, parents will not let their kids play there" (Isaacs & Swartz, 2010). The lack of adult supervision in an enclosed, safe space means that many children who are unsupervised by an adult after school are sedentary because of a lack of choices; an opportunity to play in a safe environment with friends from school may increase physical activity, rather than increasing sedentary lifestyle choices and the snacking behavior which frequently accompanies them. Achieving the Goal
Although the problem of obesity is complex, it is well-established that a lack of physical activity contributes to obesity. Furthermore, children who do not get enough physical activity may be more likely to grow into healthy adults. Despite this, many children do not have a regular physical education class, and, depending on their neighborhood surroundings may not have safe opportunities for physical play. The proposed public health policy would be to fund supervised play in gyms in public schools for thirty minutes prior to the beginning of school and one hour after the end of school on every school day.
The goal of the policy is to ensure that all children have access to safe, supervised exercise facilities on a daily basis. This access would be made available twice daily, because some family schedules may allow for time after school, while others may only have time prior to school. This would remove one obstacle towards health that many children in impoverished neighborhoods face: the lack of available safe space for physical activities. Furthermore, it would also remove another obstacle that many children in all areas face: the lack of adult supervision before or after school, which discourages those parents who cannot supervise their children at those time periods from allowing their children to play in public areas.
The policy is to be achieved by providing federal subsidies to public schools to pay existing teaching staff additional monies to supervise open-play in their existing gym or outdoor facilities. These subsidies would be available as grants through federal public health branches, such as the Centers for Disease Control, and would be operated independently from public education funding.
Who Benefits
On the surface of the policy, it is clear that the children who utilize the facilities would benefit.…
Childhood Obesity The Role of the School in Fighting Childhood Obesity According to the Centers for Disease Control, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past thirty years (2010). The long-term health impacts are significant and include greater risk of cardiovascular disease and bone and joint problems. Obese youth are more likely than youth of normal weight to become overweight adults and therefore at greater risk for the problems faced by
(Obesity in Young Children: Impact and Intervention. NICHM Research Brief. 2004). The report echoes the views of many other critics that there is a decided need for further research to understand how overweight status can impact on children's mental health. This has led to calls for many professionals to deal with the problem at a school level -- and particularly with regard to the formalization of physical exercise for children.
Barriers to provision of healthcare in rural areas include "provider shortages and infrastructure issues." (Hearne, et al. 2004) Obesity related costs are inclusive of both direct and indirect costs which include 'medical costs and lost productivity' in excess of $117 billion each year. (estimates of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; as cited in Hearne, 2004) in fact, obesity is accounted for approximately $75 billion in medical expenses in
Program Design on Childhood Obesity Childhood obesity has become a very serious epidemic today, it is estimated that about 16.3% of children all over the world are obese.in the past four decades the rate of obesity for children that are aged between 6 and 11 years has gone up by more than four times.it is a serious pandemic since obese children are likely to suffer health consequences not only in their
Discussion ReplyKnowing about the safe sleeping positions for babies is vital information in preventing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) 1. The strategies implemented to avoid SIDS were informative because they indicate a push for improvements in areas that might have been overlooked. I did not know how big INOVA was, and I found that to be quite valuable information. As the information is being disseminated, it would
Obesity The Problem of Obesity The problem of obesity is important because it affects roughly a third of all adults in the United States (Flegal, 2010, p. 235). Between 30% and 35% of American men and women are believed to be obese in according to the latest study by Flegel, Caroll, et al. (2010). This alarming news indicates that obesity is truly a problem of epidemic proportions. Because obesity does not merely