Perez, 1 Mariela Perez Professor Vana Derohanessian English 114B February 17th, 2014 Government Tackles on Overweight Problem

Children obesity is at an all-time high and has, in fact, doubled in the past ten years. Child obesity is caused due to many different factors that include the large use of technology that distracts kids from being active or eating too much unhealthy foods. The United States ranks third in the list of the world's fattest countries. (NZ Business, 2011) The government has tried to decrease this rate by passing laws and different initiatives such as the Lets Move campaign. If the government ignores the amounting rate of obesity by not funding healthier school lunches or passing laws that help prevent obesity, then we as American citizens will pay the price, literally. That is because tax money is used to cover medical expenses that are related to obesity-related illnesses, when those who suffer from these illnesses cant afford their medication. To avoid future health problems, such as diabetes, that not only affect those that are overweight, but we as a country, the health of children under the age of 18 should be a responsibility assumed by the government.

One of the biggest reasons to why the government should be more vigilant on children health is an increase in the obesity rate. Being obese, the condition of being very fat or overweight is a problem since it leads to many health problems. According to the article, First Lady says: Lets move on child obesity, About 32% of children and

Perez, 2 adolescents today 25 million kidsare obese or overweight, according to the Centers for Diseases Control and PreventionThose extra pounds put kids at greater risk of developingcostly diseases, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Other than these health issues, obesity also leads to heart disease, strokes, and certain kinds of cancer, some of which are the leading consequences of death. Given that, it is reasonable to infer that kids arent eating the suggested diet or being active the suggested time, which is sixty minutes a day. By not doing this, kids are putting themselves at risk with these health issues. Due to these health problems, kids with obesity will live a shorter life than their parents by two to five years, according to a study done in 2005. (USA Today, 2010)

The government will benefit if they regulate children health since they will grow up to become productive individuals to our society. Due to our current economy, many families are in debt, losing jobs, and their homes. The restaurant's inexpensive prices offer families with low-income fast foods at low cost. This problem, the recession, is leading families into buying cheap, fattening foods. However, our obese citizens may also be leading our country into debt. That is because research shows that obese people have poorer memory, lower cognitive ability, and find it harder to get a job, all of which might predispose them to debt, according to the editor of The Spectator, Rod Williams. Even though fast-food restaurants are convenient, in the long run medical bills wont come cheap. Other than medical bills, obese people will bring our labor supply down since they wont be able to have jobs. (Rod, 2012)

Perez, 3 Not just those who are overweight are affected but the whole nation is affected as well, and that is because the obesity costs are high. Since obesity leads to over 50 other illnesses, such as heart disease, then the patients affected would need to get treated. The way that this affects us is because sometimes those patients cant pay the high medical bills. It is mentioned in the book, Economic Burden of Obesity in Youths Aged 6 to 17 Years: 19791999" that the hospital costs for obesity-related illnesses have tripled since 1981. The costs went from $35 million to 127 million per year. The amount of money it costs hospitals due to obesity is clearly high considering that it only includes ages 6 to 17. When patients aren't able to pay these prices, tax money is used to cover the difference. $147 billion dollars are paid a year by Medicaid and Medicare on obesityrelated illnesses; however, these programs dont cover obesity itself directly. To be more exact, approximately 4% of the current debt burden is due to obesity. Larger effects are observed for specific public programs: annual spending is 10% higher in the Medicaid program, and 7% higher for Medicare. Given this problem, the money being spent on obesity by the programs Medicaid and Medicare, it is reasonable to infer that this problem could dramatically decrease if the government takes action by funding schools so that schools dont feel forced to cut physical education classes due to budget cuts. Having a decrease in child obesity would benefit us all since the money offered to cover obesity illnesses could be spent on unpreventable diseases such as cancer. With the obesity rate increasing health care spending will increase, the labor supply will reduce, and public assistance will increase. By providing kids with a healthier lifestyle, we can actually help the U.S. decrease the debt we are currently in because healthy children will reduce the obesity rate. (Dietz, Hammond, Wang, 2002)

Perez, 4 If obesity continues, the impact it has on our economy will continue to grow as well. Researchers found that our economy is impacted by obesity in three major waysdirect medical costs, productivity costs, and transportation costs. Medical insurance doesnt pay for obesity itself but the illnesses that come from obesity are. With more people getting type 2 diabetes, the direct medical spending to cover diagnosis and treatment for people with type 2 diabetes and other illnesses will increase. Obesity will lead to five major diseases, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, CHD, and stroke, all of which are covered by direct medical spending. Through different nationwide studies and surveys, researchers found out that the obese (BMI 30) had 36% higher average annual health care costs than the healthy-weight group, including 105% higher prescription costs and 39% higher primary-care costs. Given that the government is spending more money due to obese-related causes, the obesity rate should decrease in order for Medical and Medicare to reduce direct medical spending. Other than direct medical spending, productivity loss has also been affected by obesity, mainly absenteeism and presenteeism. By absenteeism I mean productivity costs due to employees being absent from work for obesity-related health reasons and what I mean by presenteeism is decreased productivity of employees while at work. Other productivity costs are higher rates of disability benefit payments; and welfare loss in the health insurance market. In other words, labor in the workforce will decrease and companies will have to pay more health insurance. Another way obesity affects our economy is the transportation needed to transport obese people. Obese people typically need more fuel and sometimes even bigger cars to transport themselves. For example, for each additional

Perez, 5 pound of the average passenger weight, 39 million additional gallons of fuel (worth $105 million at current prices) are needed annually. (Dietz, Hammond, Wang, 2002)

It is up to the government to make sure kids grow up in a healthy environment in order for them to grow up into successful individuals, so they can contribute to our society. In hopes of reducing the obesity rate, first lady, Michelle Obama has started the Lets Move, anti-obesity campaign. The campaign's goal is to help parents deal with this national crisis and to eliminate obesity in this generation of young kids. Obamas campaign encourages and promotes healthy eating and exercise in elementary schools by growing fruit and vegetable gardens in urban city environments as well as other elements that need approval in Congress due to the funding needed. Such elements could be $25 million for schools to renovate their kitchens and $10 billion over a10 year period for the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act." Congress has been recommended getting rid of junk foods after being advised that about 31 million kids eat lunch at school every day, and 11 million eat breakfast. Overall, kids consume about 30% to 50% of their calories in school. Since kids spend half their days at school and eat half of their calories at school, it reasonably follows that they should be given healthier foods in order to achieve a healthier lifestyle which will help decrease the child obesity rate. (USA Today, 2010)

I understand that the government may find it almost impossible to regulate the well-being of every child in the U.S., that funding schools to improve their kitchens and provide healthier, more expensive lunches for schools may be extremely costly considering our economic status, and that thirdly, it shouldnt be a government duty to make sure these kids are healthy, but a parental duty. However, we as a nation cannot

Perez, 6 rely on the irresponsibility of some parents who feed their children unwisely, and it is up to the government to assume their position so that our country can improve economically wise, improve our health status, and give our children, the future of this country, the best health possible.

If the government were to take responsibility for this national issue and focus more on the health of children under the age of 18, we can start solving many problems our country is facing today. For example, we now understand the financial cost of being obese. The government pays thousands a year to help those who cant afford medication due to their obesity. Being obese also prevents citizens from contributing to our society. By having the government provide the financial aid by funding schools through initiatives like the Lets Move campaign, then these young children can grow up living a healthy, productive life.

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Works Cited "Businessman takes on obesity epidemic." NZ Business May 2011: 5. General OneFile. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.csun.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA271235017&v =2.1&u=csunorthridge&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w&asid=d73dffaa107f2f595956d8f2 6ba51786 Dietz, William Hammond., and Guijing Wang. "Economic burden of obesity in youths aged 6 to 17 years: 1979-1999." Pediatrics May 2002: 949+. General OneFile. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA86168791&v=2.1&u=csunorthri dge&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w&asid=9c356f3a8bf3d3ab911415f6a621a1f4

First lady says: 'Let's move' on child obesity. (2010, February 9). USA Today, p. 01A. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lapl.org/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA218569278&v= 2.1&u=lapl&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w Williams, Rod. "Fat society: Debt and obesity are twin evils." Spectator 11 Aug. 2012: 18+. General OneFile. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA301871189&v=2.1&u=csunorthr idge&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w&asid=02098d6381a5e0b598720ef7cbcb50db