CHILD OBESITY POLICY Harvard Case Solution & Analysis

CHILD OBESITY POLICY Case Study Solution

Impact on Payers

The obesity has become one of the increasing problems among children and adults which are considered as the payers of obesity. The obesity has caused a negative impact on the lives of the patients in terms of mental and physical illness. Payers are usually the concerned peoples who are aware of the disease and how the disease could impact the well-being of the society and cause the economic problem due to severe health condition which is spreading rapidly through obesity. Hence, the several impacts on payers of obesity are discussed below:

  1. The payers affect the lives of the obese individuals by spreading awareness among them about the impact of obesity.
  2. Obesity impacts the payers in a way that payer with the help of physician could invent new therapies to deal with the spreading disease of obesity.
  3. The weight loss can be achieved by the by implementation of theories and experiments by the physicians whose source of funds are usually obtained from the payers.
  4. The payers focus on the course of actions which enable them to prevent the impact of obesity on the economic cycle through less effectiveness and efficiency occurring due to rise in obese patients.
  5. Payers attempt to eliminate the obesity and diabetes among the patients by spreading awareness so that individuals could be saved from obesity.

Influenced by other Policies

The US federal policy is influenced by many policies regarding the elimination of obesity among the children and adults. The increase in taxes regarding sugar sweetened drinks and beverages which play a major role in the occurrence of obesity is influenced by other countries which intend to direct the focus of children and adults on healthy drinks and fresh juices which are beneficial for their health (Alyson H. Kristensen, 2016). Inclusion of physical activities program after school were influenced by the policy of many private schools which are used to engage their students in physical activities so that their body and mind remain healthy. Hence, the US federal policy is based on three core principals which includes physical activities, imposing taxes and restriction on advertisement of junk food products (Alyson H. Kristensen, 2016).

Efforts for combating childhood obesity

In order to deal with the increasing issue of obesity among children, number of attempts have been made on a global as well as national level. Various communities are collaborating in order to come up with a solution that can directly address the major cause and its growing effects among the children. Different communities across the US have implemented number of policies and programs to prevent the obesity in children due to long lasting effects on patients, families and on communities (Rhonda Green apple, 2010).

Though the magnitude of this issue has grown dramatically over the years, despite of some necessary precautions and necessary steps the number remains increasingly high. The efforts made in order to reduce the number of obese children is mainly focused on school going children and very limited attention has been given to the children that fall under the age 5. However government has carried out various awareness programs to limit the obesity in pre-school going children.

On May 2017, the federal government of America in order to prevent obesity has made obesity a major part of their campaign, it has taken a number of initiatives which will have a long term effect on reducing the flow of obesity that has hit the country.

In addition to this, the US Surgeon General Regina issued his first release in which he addressed the growing number of obese patients and its cause along with the consequences. He highlighted number of steps that can be taken by numerous groups that includes physicians, communities, schools and consumers to reverse the growing trend (Lawrence, 2008).

Along with the above initiatives and programs, a recent health care reform in order to control the increasing rate of obesity, is playing a major role in combating obesity. The legislation has provided $500 million for wellness and prevention grants which is expected to increase in the next 10 years, as per the legislation, the restaurants are obliged to include calorie counts in their menus. Furthermore this will also be applied on the foods that are sold through vending machines as well on the foods that currently do not have calorie list on the package.

This menu labeling policy had a significant impact on the choices of the consumers regarding the food. The initial goal of this policy was to inform them about the calories intake which is essential as well as the critical aspect because a large part of the calories are mostly consumed outside the home. Menu labelling enabled the consumers to keep a record of their calories intake which highly altered the choices of the consumers and even forced the restaurants to alter their methods of formulation food by making them healthier. Although the policy was very effective but it remained restricted to the larger chain restaurants and was not adopted by the restaurants that were operating on a smaller scale (Joan Kaufman, 2018).

Furthermore to control and prevent the negative impacts that have arisen due to the number of actions taken to minimize the obesity, following attempts have been made in order to deal with the impacts that are affecting the efficacy of the current implemented policies:

  1. The world health assembly has implement a strategy on diet, health calls and physical activity to improve the food intake of children and to increase their current level of physical activities at a regional, local and global level.
  2. Another initiative is taken by Michelle Obama in order to eliminate the growth of obesity among children by providing parents the needed support, healthier food at an affordable price, physical activities for children, provision of healthier food in schools. This initiative is supported by federal task force and consist of representatives from federal agency that are assigned to review each policy and program related to the physical and nutrition activities of children.
  3. After school physical activity programs to increase the level of physical activity among children to be delivered after school.
  4. In order to control the growing temptation of fast-food among the children that arose soon after implementing the policy of healthy food in schools, a ban was imposed by the government on advertisements that were promoting fast-food through television, targeting children.

These strategies turned out to be a turning point in the fight against childhood obesity as it incorporated a large group of people including educational institutes, businesses, private sectors, agriculture, food procedure and federal government playing their part to improve the lifestyle by promoting healthy food.

In addition to this, the efficiency of these attempts made to deal with the obesity prevailing among young children were measured through the impact they had and their contribution in preventing the childhood obesity. The result shows a potential increase in the level of physical activities across both age group by a significant margin. However the impact was not that significant among the children aged between 6 to 12.  The main reason for this gap was due to the difference in the baseline activity levels.

Moreover the ban on the advertising also resulted in a decrease in the consumption of fast-food meals by children per week. Apart from that, children having their own purchasing power resulted in 3-5 lesser meals in a week while children whose parents purchased most of their meals resulted in 2-3 fewer meals per week.

Conclusion

After conducting the research it is determined that the policies adopted by the governments are focused towards eliminating the obesity among children and adults. The obesity in children is not considered obesity but a sign of concern about the facts like bullying of these children in high school or colleges and other health issues related to obesity which have a potential to affect the lives of these children in the later years. Moreover, several steps are taken by the government through the implementation of various policies which impact the lives of patients, providers and payers. Hence, the policies which are implemented to reduce obesity, play important role which will ensure the future implication of creating awareness regarding the obesity. Moreover, several attempts are being conducted by government through the implementation of the policy...........

 

This is just a sample partical work. Please place the order on the website to get your own originally done case solution.

 

Share This

SALE SALE

Save Up To

30%

IN ONLINE CASE STUDY

FOR FREE CASES AND PROJECTS INCLUDING EXCITING DEALS PLEASE REGISTER YOURSELF !!

Register now and save up to 30%.