Pedagogy

There are very many marvels of Mother Nature that the human being is exposed to in his day-to-day live. One of these beauties of the earth is food. It is important, as no one can live without it. On the other hand, it is a danger as too much of its consumption, especially without considering the nutritional value leads to problem like obesity and anorexia. Obesity is a major problem in the U.S. and generally in the world. This is especially so to the young children and the adolescents. The parents and the society in general have not taken full responsibility of the childrens diet. The parents even buy fat foods like fries, chocolate and sweetened drinks to their children so as to please them. What they do not realize is the dangers associated with these kinds of foods. The fats slowly accumulate in the bodies of the children, and eventually lead to problems in the child or later in life. Most of the health disorders in obese children start from the heart. Additionally, the child faces rejection from peers, which affects their social and psychological well being. Several countries in the world have realized the dangers associated with the disease, and have enacted policies to curb the rate of obesity. This research paper seeks to discuss the problem of childhood obesity and the policy approaches employed to address it.

PROBLEM DEFINITION
Introduction
Childhood obesity is defined as a serious medical condition that affects children and adolescents (Mayo Clinic, 2008). Ordinarily, obesity occurs any time the childs weight is over the normal weight required, or it exceeds the childs height and age. It is very risky to the children because there are very many risks associated with it (Mayo Clinic, 2008).According to Smith (1999), several people in the world have not categorized childhood obesity as a disease. Though it is not an attention grabbing illness such as cancer or HIVAIDS related cases, it is a chronic case. This research paper seeks to discuss the problem of childhood obesity and the policy approaches employed to address it.

A public problem
Childhood obesity is a problem which has evoked a lot of concern from the public. This is because it has proved to be very dangerous to the health of the children in the Unites States and the whole world in general. Research reveals that obesity affects the overall mortality of Americans and other people in the world. The study revealed that once the weights of all individuals increase above the optimum level, there are higher chances of death. The American Cancer Society has revealed that all the women and men who are fifteen percent less than their required weight lead longer lives. Additionally, most Americans die because of stroke, digestive diseases and coronary arteries diseases, which are all related to obesity. The obese people also have a higher chance of suffering form cancer than those who were not (Smith, 1999). According to the National Conference State Legislation, (2006), chronic disease such as heart diseases, cancers, stroke and diabetes are the first, second, third and sixth leading causes of death in America.

Obesity is a public problem because it has a close association with the blood vessels and heart diseases. Even if these kinds of dangers do not start when the child is young, they appear later as the child develops. Coronary artery is a disease which occurs as a result of the blockage of the blood vessels responsible for supplying the heart with blood. This condition results to heart attack, once the coronary vessels are blocked. Death occurs as a result of these, as the heart may not be able to pump blood to the other parts of the body. Deposits of fibrous tissue and fats occur in the childrens blood vessels from the age of four to five years old (Smith, 1999). Most of the diseases that result due to obesity stem from the heart disorders. The other diseases related to obesity are high cholesterol, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and arthritis and musculosketal injuries. It is also a public concern because despite affecting the health of the people, it also affects children psychologically, cognitively and socially. The economic condition of the family is also affected as the child spends most of her or his life in and out of hospital (ACEI, 2007).

Research has also revealed that the psychological life of the child is affected. This is because a child faces rejection due to her or his size, especially among her or his peers. This leads to problems of low self esteem. Low self esteem is associated to other problems, where the children get very high rates of loneliness, nervousness and sadness. They are also prone to risky behavior, including consuming alcohol and smoking (Srauss, 2000).

Several people have realized the dangers associated with obesity, and have therefore campaigned for its prevention. Michelle Obama., the wife of Americas President, Barrack Obama is one of these people. She has picked a worthy cause, as obesity has proved to be a silent killer in the American society. Her focus has been in discouraging eating disorders, which are one of the major causes of childhood obesity. (Huffington Post, 2010).

Prevalence of Obesity Statistics on children obesity
According to National Conference State Legislation (2006), the Journal of American Medical Association indicates that over seventeen percent of the adolescents between the age of two and nineteen are overweight. Research from 1980 to 2002 indicates that overweight childrens number has continued to triple, especially to children who are aged between six and nineteen years. The International Obesity Task Force states that at least one hundred and fifty five million school-age children worldwide are overweight or obese, and approximately twenty two million children under five years of age are overweight across the world(ACEI, 2007). Additionally, the numbers of children and overweight young people has increased three times during the last twenty years (ACEI, 2007).According to Blasi, (2003) one in every five children is overweight. Additionally, there are very many times when the condition remains under treated and under diagnosed. According to Health Affairs (2007), the percentage of overweight children between the ages of ten and seventeen has neither increased nor decreased. The obesity prevalence in the obesity level has grown from fourteen point eight percent to sixteen point four percent.

Causes of obesity
There are cases where the problem of obesity is genetic. However, these cases are very minimal. The major cause of obesity is eating too much food and lack of exercise. Severally, children watch excessive television for over four hours a day. As a result, they have no time for exercise. Additionally, several children eat a lot of snacks which have a high fat quantity. Additionally, video games, viewing television and surfing the internet results to trance-like situations, which slows down the metabolism of the children (Blasi, 2003).

Soft drinks usually have a very high quantity of sugar. A study on the effects of the childrens weight by the consumption of soda revealed that addition of soft drinks which are sugar-sweetened to the diets of the children increases the chances of obesity. Additionally, obesity increased over one and half times every time the sugar-sweetened drinks are consumed (Blasi, 2003).

ANALYSIS OF POLICY APPROACHES
The term policy means, A procedure or guide to action to achieve intended goals and, purportedly or actually, functions to set priorities and guide resource allocation (King, Turnour  Wise, 2007). In relation to child obesity, there are very many ways the policies can be set. Mostly, they are set through the use of a formal statement (King, Turnour  Wise, 2007).

Policies to curb obesity in the U.S.
Several states in the United States have passed policies of prohibiting the foods that have trans fat. In addition, they have stated the composition of nutrients in the school diet. In 2007 to 2008 six states passed a policy of specifying the nutrient content of the food given to children in schools. For example, in California, the schools were prohibited from making food which has trans fat to the children during school days. This is because Trans fat is considered as one of the major causes of cholesterol (NCSL, 2010).

Physical education in schools was considered as important. In 2006, a total of twenty six states agreed on the policy of physical activity in schools. Ten of these states passed it. For example, in California, there is provision of funds to junior and middle high schools .This is because exercise is very important as it ensures the body is healthy. Additionally, it ensures all students are not always engaged in television and the internet, which results to obesity (NCSL, 2010).

Another policy that has been adopted in America is the Students Fitness Screening Program. This is a guideline based on nutrition, which was developed by the Department of Education. This program requires that the students weights and heights are reported so as to assess whether they are obese or not. In California, the Body Mass Index is reported to students through a confidential letter. This program is meant for screening the eight and seventh grade students in the U.S. (NCSL, 2010).An organization known as U.S. Preventive Services Task Force states that behavioral interventions such as exercise and diet are beneficial for overweight adolescents and children. All the children with a BMI above the eighty fifth percentile are encouraged to eat healthily and exercise. The diet recommended is supposed to have mild calories. For children who have extreme weight above the ninety fifth percentile, they are supposed to have drugs administered to them, or even go through surgical intervention (Motycka  Inge, 2007).

In the recent years, the government of America has worried to ensure that there is a ban on all the advertisements of fast foods. This is helpful as it reduces the number of all the overweight children by eighteen percent. A study by the Law and Economics Journal has revealed that if the tax associated with television advertising was tampered with, then child obesity would be reduced, though not in large numbers. This is because the companies will not have enough money to advertise their products. It however requires a high involvement of the government. The U.S. will have followed countries like Finland, Sweden and Norway who have already banned the sponsoring of all the childrens programs dealing with advertising of fast foods (Scientific Blogging, 2008)

Two ministries have often collaborated so as to ensure the policy of banning television commercials which deal with promotion of fast foods. These two bodies are the National Bureaus of Economic Research (NBER) and the National Institutes of Health. The officials in the program measure the number of hours that children watch television messages by fast food companies every week. One of the officials stated that, We have known for sometime that childhood obesity has gripped our culture, but little empirical research has been done that identifies television advertising as a possible cause (Scientific Blogging, 2008).This study was beneficial, as it was an opening to the policies that could be undertaken in America to curb the epidemic of obesity (Scientific Blogging, 2008).

The media, through its campaign can reduce the obesity problem by ensuring that it is active in promoting changes in the eating habits of the U.S. children and adults. Through the media, the public can be sensitized to eating healthy foods like whole grains, avoiding soda and taking water instead, and more consumption of fruits and vegetables .Since there are so many advertisements on foods with high caloric content, there should be a No TV week set aside each year so as to sensitize the people, and especially the parents on the need to feed their children a healthy diet (Public Health Report, 2000).

Education is power therefore, it would be a good way of sensitizing the public on the obesity problem. Through the use of funds from the federal government, the public and health departments should use the mass media so as to participate in campaigns aimed at health promotion. Additionally, there should be a subject on nutrition and instruction in the school curriculum so as to ensure American child will have a good future. There is also need for dietary guidance for the children in schools. All the government cafeterias should be instructed to provide foods which promote healthy eating (Public Health Report, 2000).

Food assistant programs should also be enacted, as they would lead to successful elimination of candy bars, soft drinks and foods with high caloric content in schools. All the foods which are meant to compete with the meals offered in schools should meet all the requirements of the federal government. There should also be an order for all food packaging companies, which should ensure that all the cafeteria state clearly the content of the fats on the foods. All types of meat should have labeling on nutrition (Public Health Report, 2000).

Indeed, child obesity is an epidemic that needs to be wiped off. It does not only affect the children, but the whole society in general.