Comparative Public Policy
Obesity and Alcoholism
Obesity is defined as having weight higher than it is considered healthy for a particular height
and this as a result of excessive and high amounts of body fat. In order to determine whether
someone is obese or not one must have their Body Mass Index calculated and the comparative
measure of their weight against their height determines whether their weight is within a healthy
range. Obesity is considered detrimental to both young people and adults because it increases the
probability of illness and medical complications (Frieden et al, 2010). To most countries,
governments seek to deal with obesity in order to ensure a healthy population in order to reduce
money allocated to health care and at the same time increase productivity (Yeomans, 2010).
Policies have been widely explored regarding child and adult obesity in order to counter
the effects resulting from obesity. Children struggle with obesity when they are overweight and
suffer from illness that result from obesity. One of the major illness that result from obesity is
diabetes and hypertension that are reported by many that suffers from obesity. America has over
two-thirds of its adults obese and the rate is consistently increasing over the years. This fact is
also true to child obesity and is currently increasing over the years as well. Policies in regards to
obesity are concerned with public health campaigns with the purposes of creating awareness
about importance of healthy eating, exercising and increase of physical activities and importance
of seeking professional help.
America comparatively to Japan, Japan has lower obesity cases in its population whereas in
America the statistics show that overweight cases are on the rise. Japan is globally known as
one of the countries with the lowest percentages of obesity in their population. Japan is known
for its traditional habits dietary that most of the population eat (Yeomans, 2010). These
traditional meals are healthy and consists of balanced diet that nourish them with required
nutrients and lead them to take over 150 calories lower than the American citizens on average.
Japan have a policy of increased cost in driving an automobile that encourage most Japanese to
use public means of transportation together with walking increasing their physical activity.
Japan’s ministry of health propagated a ‘metabo’ law which is a policy that has primary role of
fighting obesity and its associated illness such as diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome
and cardiovascular diseases. ‘Metabo’ law it seeks to measure country’s waistline and it is
radical in its measures requiring men to maintain a waist of less than 33.5 inches whereas women
should maintain a waist line of less than 35.4 inches (Dixon, 2010).
In America, Early care and Education policy is a policy that has been adopted in order to reduce
childhood obesity and also propel prevention strategies. This policy is keen to highlight actions
in the ECE programs with licensing regulations, child care demographics and state legislation to
comprehensively work to prevent child obesity (Frieden et al, 2010). This policy also seeks to
find approaches upon which it can raise healthy communities. The strategies seeks to find
suitable policies, systems, and environmental ways upon which the community can be
encouraged to live in a healthy manner (Yeomans, 2010).
School health policy is the other policy that includes guidelines on how schools can
prevent obesity in students. This policy contains regulations and laws that give a set bar of
standards and resolutions on how the goal of preventing obesity can be achieved. School policy
ensures that parents are ensured as well as school staff and it shows that the school can get a
legal protection from that policy.
Other policies that have contributed to the issue of obesity is nutrition policy and physical
activity policy. Nutrition policy is keen to advise and encourage people to be mindful of their
choice of foods and how often they take meals. People are advised to consider taking healthier
meals as opposed to taking foods with high cholesterol, high fat amounts and junk foods. It is
advisable that people consider eating balanced diets and at least three meals a day to nourish
one’s body with sufficient nutrients (Dixon, 2010).
The other policy is the physical activity policy. This policy highlights the benefits of
healthy living through exercising and how this improves one’s health. People who exercise are
fit and benefit from frequent exercises that they do. One of the important things to learn from
increased but sufficient physical activity is that it allows one to burn calories on their body and
reducing unnecessary fats on the body. In Japan, people have higher physical activities than in
America and this is considered as one of the reasons as to why they have fewer obese cases in
their population.
Policies encourage that a healthy community be nurtured through all possible ways such
as ensuring quality physical activity is availed to students, that taxes are reduce or eliminated on
healthy foods awhile increasing taxes on unhealthy foods, regulating the advertisement of
unhealthy foods, ensuring foods availed to students in vendor machines or school menus are
healthy and much more. Poverty association with obesity is connected because low-income
people have little money to spare after paying their mandatory bills and this only allows them to
buy unhealthy foods which are generally cheaper than healthy foods (Frieden et al, 2010).
Policies in some countries should seek to increase the minimum wage bar to allow the lowincome citizens to at least be able to afford healthy foods. Policies also seeks to encourage
healthy lifestyle because money on Medicare by the government to obesity related illness is
always rising and if the trend goes on it will not be sustainable in the future .
Alcoholism is addiction of excessive consumption of alcohol leading one in to becoming
dependent on alcohol that may be as a result of compulsive behavior attributed to mental illness.
This dependency on alcohol could be either physical or psychological and it is also viewed as
alcohol poisoning. Japan alcohol consumption is blow the average mark of alcohol consumption
in the world. Japan is one of the countries in the world where per capita alcohol consumption is
decreasing whereas in other countries it seems to be on the rise (Dixon, 2010).
In United States of America there are two famous policies that touch on alcoholism.
These two policies are namely; general alcohol policy and the minimum legal age drinking age
policy. The former policy seeks to deal with all matters such the manufacture, sell and also issues
/ problems resulting from alcohol consumption. Control over alcohol policies are instituted
differently at different states either in local government or state government (Frieden et al,
2010).
This two policies have a combination of local, federal and state laws that work together to
ensure responsible consumption of alcohol. The minimum legal drinking age Act of 1984
stipulates that the minimum age of drinking all the citizens ought to abide to that. This law
ensures that is a federal offence for anyone to sell alcohol to a person under the age of 21
(Frieden et al, 2010). These policies also touch on matters that may arise from alcoholism such
as addiction. People with issues of addiction are encourage to seek help in order to have their
lives on order again (Dixon, 2010).
Every states seeks to reduce alcohol consumption levels in their country. In America,
these policies have comprehensively sought to achieve this goal. One of the matters that policies
seek to address is matters of beer and wine taxes. Increase on taxation levels increases the prices
reducing people who can afford it (Yeomans, 2010). Taxation policies are effective I reducing
the amount of alcohol that people can afford. Underage drinking policy explore all matters
regarding possession of alcohol drinks, purchase ,hosting of underage drinking parties, driving
under the influence of alcohol and false identification in order to purchase alcohol in disguise of
being an adult. The other policies that explore alcohol issue is the Alcohol beverages Pricing
policies that are keen to ensure that it is only available in the best possible prices. Policies also
touch on blood alcohol concentration limits for someone who is driving since certain levels may
endanger lives of other people on the road.
In comparison of Japan and USA it is safe to conclude that the two countries can learn a
lot from each other. This evident by learning how Japan has efficient policies that have aided the
country though have fewer people with obese issues from their ‘metabo’ law. USA can learn and
adopt some of its measures such as waistline measurements limits for men and women while also
encouraging people to have increased physical activities. This can be achieved by building better
sidewalks and ensuring cyclists have better places to ride on to encourage more exercising as
well as increasing the cost of automobile usage. Japan on the other side, despite its low alcohol
consumption, it is evident that it lacks comprehensive policies that touch on the alcohol
regulation on traditional and non-traditional alcohol consumption (Dixon, 2010). The only law in
japan that addresses the matter is the traffic law and that in itself is not sufficient in addressing
matters that arise on excessive consumption on alcohol and future threats that arise from that.
There is an epidemiological evidence in support of the link that exists between
alcoholism and obesity. This is highly evident in women and occasionally in men. It is observed
statistically that people with a family history of a close relative who had alcoholism problems are
more likely to have obesity than those from a family that had no such alcoholism history.
Knowing the danger that alcoholism possess on the future generation and increase of chances of
obesity , alcoholism can be viewed as one of the root causes of obesity among other major
factors that need to be addressed (Yeomans, 2010). The causal and effects analysis of the matter
can only be escalated if the policies are keen to thoroughly deal with alcoholism and encourage
the community to avoid excessive consumption of alcohol whereas keeping healthy by eating
healthy meals, exercising and much more.
References
Dixon, J. B. (2010). The effect of obesity on health outcomes. Molecular and cellular
endocrinology, 316(2), 104-108.
Yeomans, M. R. (2010). Alcohol, appetite and energy balance: is alcohol intake a risk factor for
obesity?. Physiology & behavior, 100(1), 82-89.
Frieden, T. R., Dietz, W., & Collins, J. (2010). Reducing childhood obesity through policy
change: acting now to prevent obesity. Health Affairs, 29(3), 357-363.
OPTION 1 - MICRO POLICY
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As in the case of the other option, this assignment does NOT require a formal,
6-8 page memo accompanied by a 300 work abstract which can be distributed to other
meticulously footnoted paper but each student should summarize his or her findings in a
students via the Discussion Board and -- as noted above - will be the basis of class
discussion during the final meeting days of this summer session. The final statement
should be carefully proof-read and obviously each student's own.
Each micro policy paper should indicate why the topic is an issue in the country or
several countries if you prefer to do a comparative piece, the actors involved in the policy
process, the progress that has been made addressing the issue, the current status of the
matter, and whether the policy choices of the country you are studying might be
"borrowed" by others facing the same issue or problem.
Otherwise, the assignment is an open one, and the following list of possible topics is only
offered as an example of what might be chosen. You are free to select other topics of
this nature, but check with the instructor to insure that they fall within the framework of
the assignment,
anti-smoking policy in the European Union, especially in the new members
homelessness, street people, and public policy;
the right to die and public policy;
genetic engineering and public policy;
drug problems (including alcoholism) and public policy;
obesity and alcholism
feminist movements and public policy in Europe.
consumer politics
government corruption
same sex marriages
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