Obesity: Past and Current Issues

Obesity: Past and Current Issues Funding for obesity-related initiatives is largely focused on the prevention and correction of childhood obesity, as these results have been shown to have the biggest long-term impact in reducing obesity and related health issues both in absolute terms and in terms of cost-effectiveness (AAP 2010).

Many private non-profit groups have donated research funds or oversee their own laboratories and/or research programs for the development of such preventative initiatives, and many of these grant programs are supplemented by federal or, as is more often the case, state government funding (AAP 2010).

in-school educational and nutritional programs are funded entirely through public funds from the local, state, and federal governments, but the majority of research initiatives and programs are funded and facilitated primarily by private organizations, with government funding assistance and at times oversight and authorization of these private initiatives (AAP 2010).

Certain ongoing initiatives that have been shown to be effective in combating obesity and raising awareness of the obesity issue itself and the attendant health problems it can cause include the creation and dissemination of public service announcements, classroom visitations by special presenters/educators, and a reexamination and retooling of school lunch programs in many localities and states based on greater nutritional awareness (AAP 2010).

Currently planned initiatives include the education of local physicians, especially physicians, in methods to encourage healthy eating and exercise levels and methods of addressing the issue of obesity, and working with medical insurers to develop ways to handle obesity and related issues (AAP 2010). According to a recent survey, nearly one third of people in the United States who are morbidly obese do not have health insurance (Frangou 2009).

People who are undereducated and/or who lie in the lowest economic income quartile are the least likely in the country to have health insurance, and are also the most likely to be obese; this combination means that those who are morbidly obese and thus more likely to suffer significant related health problems very often do not have access to care for these issues, nor are they able to receive corrective or preventative treatments that are more easily available to individuals with health insurance (Frangou 2009).

This can have a major impact on the health outcomes of obese people, with ongoing serious problems and early and increased mortality much higher for those who are morbidly obese and do not have health insurance when compared with those who are morbidly obese and do have health insurance (Frangou 2009). Perhaps surprisingly, obesity is just as much of a problem in some countries that provide access to adequate and appropriate healthcare to all of their citizens, such as the United Kingdom (Collins 2009).

Western Europe has seen a rise in obesity very similar to that of North America's (and the United States' particularly), and close to one-half of the United Kingdom's population is now morbidly obese (Collins 2009). Overall health outcomes.