Background
Over the last fifty years, there has been a growth in obesity in the United States of America, children are the most affected; according to U.S. Department of Health & Human Services report of 2007, over 25% of American children are obese, while more than, 60% of the population was either overweight or obese. The alarming increase is because of the living standards adopted of late by the residents in the country (Keller, 2008). This report evaluates the efforts put by the United States government to combat the spread of obesity.
Thesis Statement
Because of prevalence of obesity in the United States, the ministry of health has developed a number of policies that target the nutritional disorder in the country. The approach that the government has taken can be interpolated into two dimensions: pharmacological interventions and lifestyle interventions, the main aim of the interventions is to reduce the spread of the epidemic and alert the population on the dangers of the disease.
Pharmacological interventions
Although obesity is a nutritional disorder, medical practitioners have an intervention to the cure of the disease, the intervention may not necessarily be to offer medicine to the people suffering from the disease but to create an awareness of the dangers that the disease is likely to cause on someone from a medical perspective.
At extreme case, the government has established an obesity center where patients can be attended to and given medications and surgery services to assist in the cure of the disease.
Some accumulation of fat can be removed through operation and use of medication; these cases are addressed by obesity problems in the country to ensure that the suffering population gets proper medical attention. On the other hand, there are a number of health disorders brought about by obesity; the government is improving its capacity to cater for these emerging cases.
Lifestyle interventions
Obesity is sometime regarded as a lifestyle disease, it is caused largely by the kind if foods that people eat and the lifestyle they adopt. When people eat junk foods, they increase the chances of getting the disease. Junk have a large accumulation of fat, form their processing and their own nature.
The ministry via national media tools and nongovernmental organs has embarked on massive campaigns against eating of junk food and eating proper foods. They are teaching the people on how to eat healthy and the benefits that eating healthy is lily to bring to their lives; this is in the efforts of enacting policies that lead to behavior change.
The ministry is using every available opportunity to offer nutritional educations, for example when a mother has delivered; they are advised on how they should feed their children as well as the eating habits they should enforce. Businesses that sell fast foods have been controlled in the country and the government controls their marketing campaigns.
For example when advertising for junk foods, the companies are controlled not to target children directly. The cost of junk foods have been increased through government policies in the country like taxation, their number has also been limited.
The United States Ministry of Health in collaboration with Ministry of Education is developing exercising programs through games to children. The aim of the programs is to encourage outdoor activities; when children engage in such programs, then they are less likely to suffer from obesity (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2011).
Conclusion
Obesity is a growing problem in the United States, in recognition of the dangers likely to result from obesity, the government through the Ministry of Health has started programs to prevent the spread of the disease and cure the suffering population. The government has a two dimensional approach, the dimensions of the approach are: pharmacological interventions and lifestyle interventions.
References
Keller, K. (2008). Encyclopedia of Obesity. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, Inc
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2011). Improving Care for Medicare Patients. Web.