Health Behavior and Governmental Influence Essay Sample

Healthy Living Campaign

As from the 1800s, public health has become the number one motive to the United States government. Any public matters and rights acknowledge the state as a permitted sector allowed to safeguard the public health and wellbeing. To date, it is the government’s responsibility to make sure that the people have access to proper diet as a way of promoting health living in as far as the tobacco and alcohol production is concerned. According to Resnik (2015), several governmental sectors for instance, “Food and Drug Administration, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Surgeon General, and the Affordable Care Act.” Required to have generated rules that help in steering up the campaign on healthy living through education, and through the laws set to govern both the consumer and the producers. In every set of rules, there are those rules which will seem to be contentious and misleading. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) argue that the state is accountable for safeguarding the public health through making sure that the kind of food being consumed are safe and satisfied by the FDA. Despite the effort, several Americans believe that some of the state’s hard work destabilizes personal independence hence being able to discover healthy food unattainable. This essay, therefore, concentrates on the rules proposals that argue with obesity.

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Obesity

Obesity is and has been one of the major problems with the Americans. According to World Health Organization (2016), the number of obesity in the World has increased as of 1980. Heart defects and Cancer are among the deadly diseases in the United States with recorded casualties of close to 1,000,000 yearly. In the past year (2014), WHO (2016) confirmed that mature people with over 18 years were diagnosed as being overweight with a percentage of 39% whereas 13% were obese with most children close to 41 million being diagnosed with being overweight. The increased consumption of fatty food, too many carbohydrates, and sucrose are the causative agents as to why the majority of the populace are getting obese and overweight (Resnik, 2015).

Mayo Clinic (NY) states that regardless of the incidences of genetic inclinations, environmental involvements, and age-related illness, the majority of these conditions can be controlled through eating well-balanced food and relationship of physical activities. The effort enacted by the government has been related to clinical, behavioral, and educational matters being pushed forward by the Affordable Care Act.

Healthcare Cost Report

Close to $147 billion covers that populace who are affected with overweight (Finkelstein, 2009). It is, therefore, vital for the government to have a cooling on mitigating costs as much as safeguarding the people against danger. In every year, billions of taxpayer’s money are directed to health care programs, knowledge, and medical covers. Hence, to disregard the contributing factors those augments expenses and mortify health tend to be unfair to the community and the taxpayers. Food satisfiers are influential in offering information as to what each kind of food contains. Before buying any food product, it is always good to understand the kind of knowledge being passed by the labeling on the food. People have shifted from making their food and packaged food products to readymade food industry or fast food. Hence, many American have opted for this kind of option because they believe it is easily reliable especially if in a hurry.

Affordable Care Act

In 2010, President Obama initiated the Affordable Care Act. Its aim was directed to reduce the cost of defensive sickness and the rise in child obesity. With the formation of the Affordable Care Act, it has assisted in controlling the spreading of obesity.

MyPlate

According to the USDA, it urges the public to mind what they consume. Since 1916, food that was meant for children and the methods used to select the food were the prior guidelines that steered healthy living by then hence controlling the outbreak of lifestyle diseases. The government has been trying to revise on the type of food consume by the society resulting in the formation of MyPlate in 2011 which stressed on visual cues. With “My Plate,” it assists in grasping consumer's concentration and rationalizing information contained in its precursors. Under “MyPlate,” foodstuff with categories of carbohydrates, sucrose, fats, wheat, and cereals have been eliminated and replace with proteins, vegetables, and grains among the rest.

Youth Programs

As of 2010 through the help of First Lady Obama, she came up with a movement “Let’s Move” which was aimed to spread awareness on improving the kind of food being consumed. School-based curriculums played a vital role in imparting the message to the society with the message on the importance of balanced diet. The reason behind the curriculum was aimed at establishing healthy living approach. The United States Department of Agriculture came up with a program called the “National School Lunch Program” among others, which assisted in providing a balanced diet to the students (USDA).

Promotion of Open and Free information

Programs assist in aiming at the endorsement open and free in a sequence that can be spread sparsely to help in public in coming up with assessments, and motivations to the communal action for improved health. The type of information which can influence a bigger group of people is regarded as empowerment. It allows them to come up with mature choices, which they are conscious about.

Summary

Public health is of the utmost importance to the U.S.A government .as such it has come up with laws that help to augment the people’s behavior. The laws are all encompassing, they comprise of laws that regulate individual behavior such as through ensuring proper education to all citizens, laws that govern the agents of behavioral change such as the Food and Drug Administration that governs the safety and efficiency of products that are meant for human and also bolstering public health by ensuring innovation and creativity in manufacture of medical products. Thirdly, there are laws that govern information and socio-economic environments such as ensuring proper labelling of all products.

Regulation of Health Behavior

The government has also put in place systems that aid it in its role to regulate health behavior. These systems include the governments taxing power. Taxes play a fundamental role in the government’s efforts for it provides the much needed funds that are necessary to carry out activities such as education programs on proper health behaviors, provide public health service and provide services such as proper sanitation its citizens.

The patient protection and affordable care act passed by president Obama aims to increase the number of the insured population and lower the costs of accessing proper healthcare to the citizens. This is achieved by offering subsidies and lowering the cost of health insurance while increasing the insurance coverage.

In conclusion, public health has become the number one motive to the United States government. Several governmental sectors for instance “Food and Drug Administration., the United States Department of Agriculture, the Surgeon General, and the Affordable Care Act,” have generated rules that help in steering up the campaign on healthy living through education, and through the laws set to govern both the consumer and the producers.

Socio-Economic Stability Improvement

The government through come up with ways to effectively ensure that all of its citizens are getting wholesome healthcare. This is by ensuring through education programs that ensure that all the people are well versed with the proper behaviors in order to achieve good health. It is thduty of the government to provide quality and affordable insurance, sanitation and education on appropriate and safe practices.

It is also the government’s duty to minimize potential health risks such ensuring that people acquire safe and quality food and drugs. The government also regulates the manufacture and consumption of potentially unhealthy substances such tobacco and alcohol in order to ensure the general well-being of the nation. This is accomplished through proper legislation.

It is through proper nutrition that the general prevalence of some lifestyle diseases such as obesity can be reduced. The government helps to regulate the nutrition by coming up with bodies e.g. the FDA that set the guideline for the proper nutritional safety by regulating the types of food that is safe for human consumption. It also promotes laws that ensure that all products meant for human use satisfy certain standards before they are allowed for public use.

The government is a major player in promoting proper health behavior among its citizens. This is because the healthier the citizens are , the more productive they are thus directly improving the whole nations socio-economic stability.