Emerging Issue Of Obesity Commerce Free-Samples for Students

Question: Write a Report on Is it time for legislation? Answer: Introduction (Source: Stark, 2008) Obesity is recognized as one of the fastest growing health issue across the world and mainly in the regions of Australia. An approximate of 63% of the Australian adults is obese or overweight and that is why the country is started calling as a fat nation (AIHW, 2017). There has also been analysed the similar issue in the children and the data reveals that out of every 4 children 1 is in the obese category. The increasing obesity is associated with the high risk of numerous health related issues comprising of premature death, certain types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, stroke, hypertension and coronary heart disease (AIHW, 2017). The rate of children suffering from diabetes, respiratory problem and high blood pressure is also increasing because of the high level of obesity. The report will focus on the essential need of legislation for controlling the up surging issues of obesity. Obesity is it time for legislation? (Source: Butt, 2015) The up surging issues of obesity are fetching high attention of the legislation and the Australian Government. Obesity is not only increasing the number of health issues in the Australians but is also raising the financial burden upon the individuals suffering from obesity. There are growing expenses on the medical care because of the various health issues as a result of obesity (Pilkauskas, 2015). Obesity in Australia and fast food The health consequents and the issues of obesity are still rising with an increasing arte but there is very squat or nor impact upon the Australian have been evaluated. The follow data shows that from the period of 2006 to 2016, there has been realized a total of around $8,000 million of increased revenue earned by the fast-food outlets or service providers which offers the fast food to the people both at the restaurants and via home delivery (Bankwest, 2016). (Bankwest, 2016) This demonstrates the unhealthy food and dietary habits of the individuals. The primary reason of obesity is the consumption of fast food and unhealthy foodstuff. Role of legislation in overcoming the issue of obesity The Australian Government and other legislative authorities have their significant role in managing and overcoming the issue of obesity. In the year 2006, there was establishment of OPC i.e. Obesity Policy Coalition. The primary objective of OPC is to advocate, analyze and recognize the evidence based regulatory initiatives and the policies for reducing the level of obesity and overweight, specifically in the children, at the national, state and the regional level (OPC, 2017). There were also introduced the national Protecting Children from Junk Food Advertising Bill in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011. These bills were introduced to ban the consumption of fast food and decrease the levels obesity in Australians. There are several other bodies also which have their engagement in eliminating the issue of obesity from the nation such as National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Government Department of health, etc. All these bodies are paying increasing attention over the risin g issues of obesity (Lowe, 2014). Imposing high taxes The Government and the legislative bodies have a controlling power which can help in reducing the obesity levels among the individuals. It can be perform by imposing additional and high taxes upon the purchase of fast food products as well as other unhealthy substances which can lead to high obesity level such as beverages like soft drinks, etc. (Roberto, et al., 2015).There are already high taxes upon the consumption of tobacco and alcohol because of the fact that they are injurious to the health of the individuals. In a similar way, the Government and the regulatory bodies are required to impose high taxes and duty on the trading as well as purchasing of fast food (Sonneville, et al., 2015). This will impact the buying power of the individuals and will restrict the continuous buying of these products. Once the buyer will be restricted, the level of obesity among the adults, youngsters and mainly children will automatically reduce (Kite, et al., 2015). Controlling advertisements There are numerous advertisements which take use of individuals who are very slim and have a BMI below normal. Such advertisement poses a negative impact upon the healthy and fat people by lowering down their self-esteem (Wang, Liaukonyte and Kaiser, 2015). There are also advertisements of fast food chains and restaurants which try to fetch the attention of the consumers and mainly the children. Because of getting influenced from such advertisements, there is increase demand for fast food by the children as well as by the youngsters (Swinburn and Wood, 2013). And this directly results in increasing level of obesity among them. The Government and legal various legal associations can control these advertisements by avoiding the use of children in the adverts, by making obligatory for the fast food service providers to provide a complete detail of the fats and other ingredients contained in each food product. Under the compliance of the Childrens Television Standards 2009 (CTS), there m ust be restrictions upon such type of advertisements which can a negative effect on the health of the children (Eckermann, et al., n.d.). Limitations on the advertisements can somehow restrict the increasing demand for the fast food which can control the level of obesity among the Australians. Role of information campaigns There are several information campaigns which take place on a regular basis but these have a limited and squat impact upon the individuals and the obese. The people do not get much informed about the negative aspects of being obese because of the limited area they cover. If the Government can give its support to the information campaigns and expand the coverage area, then it can have a significant impact on the large number of audience. The Government can make the obligatory presence of the individuals in suchs information campaigns (King, et al., 2013). These information campaigns must offer adequate information regarding the issues take place due to over consumption of fast food, health impact of the unhealthy dietary habits, cause of obesity, negative implication of being an obese, ways for getting rid from obesity and benefits of healthy diet and exercises. This will help in making the individuals informed about the up surging issues of obesity (Vamos, et al., 2016). Conclusion The increasing levels of obesity among the adults, youngsters and the children of Australia is a highly concerned subject on which the governmental, legislative as well as non-governmental organisations are paying huge attention. The future of the nation i.e. the children are becoming the primary victims of obesity because of the individual preferences and select ion of food products. To control the increasing rate of obesity, now it is essential that there must be significant steps taken up by the legislations for controlling the rising rate of obese Australians. From the discussions in the report, it can be concluded that the regulatory and controlling powers of the legislative authorities and the Government, the issues of obesity can be controlled by various means such as by imposing high taxes and duty on fast food, by restricting the depressing and negatively influencing advertisement. There can also be achieved positive outcomes if there can be higher and enhanced engagement of the individuals in the information campaigns run with the support of the Government. References AIHW, 2017. Overweight and obesity. Accessed on: 27th April, 2017. Accessed from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/overweight-and-obesity/ Bankwest, 2016. Food and Beverage Services Industry Report. Pp.11. Accessed on: 27th April, 2017. 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