UK Obesity Policy and Implementation

The United Kingdom’s Obesity and Healthy Eating Policy

Most people in the United Kingdom (UK), are obese and overweight. This covers 61.9% of adults as well as 28% of children aged between two years and fifteen years. Individuals who are obese also have increased risk of conducting heart diseases, type 2 diabetes among other diseases such as certain cancers (Moody & Neave, 2016). Obesity and overweight can also make it more difficult for an individual to search for a job and keep their work. Moreover, it affects mental health and self-esteem.

In 2007, the Foresight report ‘Tackling Obesities: Future Choices' showed an increase in obesity level in the country (Kyle et al., 2017). Its outcomes informed “the state’s ‘Healthy people and Living” which was another report published in 2011. The report designed strategies for integrating everyone in dealing with the obesity issue and also revealed that obesity is everybody’s concern hence it’s the responsibility of each person to move towards behaviour change to reduce obesity. Moreover, the report showed that several partners such as organizations and the government are responsible for assisting individuals cut weight. Kyle et al., (2017) also reveal that as per the National Health Service (NHS), health challenges linked to being obese cost the organization more than £5 billion each year. Therefore, to decrease the obesity level in adults and children (target population) by 2020, the government of the United Kingdom set the Obesity and healthy eating policy.

This health legislation is mostly designed to address these issues which majorly contribute to obesity and overweight. The first aim of the policy is to assist citizens to make healthier choices, secondly is to encourage responsible business and lastly is to meet the local needs (Capehorn et al., 2016). To start with, the government under the policy is aimed at encouraging and helping people to be more active, and to drink and eat healthily. Therefore under the policy, the government of the UK is determined to give its citizens advice on physical activity and healthy diet via programs such as; Change4Life programme. Besides, it has improved food and drinks labelling to assist citizens to make healthy foods and drinks choice, has encouraged firms to include information on food calorie on menus for people to make better choices. Moreover, the government is determined to guide people on physical exercise. On promoting business responsibility, Guest et al., (2015) suggest that the government is also determined to ensure that organisations make it easier for people to choose healthy lifestyles especially in foods, alcohol, physical activities and health at work. This is also achieved by reducing ingredients like fats and salt in foods. Besides on Meeting local needs, the Local councils incorporated other organisations to improve citizen’s health, especially in remote areas. This also involves ensuring the right services are put in place. Local councils are required to ensure that wellbeing and health boards which involve and bring together local businesses are developed to create a condition in which citizens can make healthier choices.

Social Determinants Of Health Which Are Relevant To Obesity And UK Population

The social determinants of health refer to the conditions which an individual live, is born, grow, age and work (Brunner & Marmot, 2009). The major health issue identified as per the policy is obesity and overweight in the United Kingdom.

The first social determinant in obesity and overweight in the UK is modern eating behaviours. Today, the modern habits of eating accounts for a huge sector of obesity’s epidemic. To study how the modern eating habits influence weight, scholars from the University of North Carolina reviewed data which covered from 1977 through 2006. The study revealed that daily intake of calories increased rapidly at the time of the study (Popkin et al., 2012). Moreover, modern studies have revealed that an individual has a reduced obesity risk if their eating hobbits consists mostly of vegetables, whole grains and fruits. Besides, a person who eats more calories compared to their body use of energy has increased risk of accumulating more calories in terms fat which results in obesity and overweight (von Deneen & Liu, 2011). The study also suggests that there is various kind of foods which are likely to result in gaining of weight such as foods with high sugars and fats. Some of the Foods which increases weight gain risk and which are mostly consumed in the united kingdom include; fatty foods, processed meats, fast foods, French fries and foods with additives, such as baked foods, cookies and sweetened sodas, juices as well as alcoholic drinks. Processed products usually have high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener, therefore, consuming such foods in excess and performing too little exercise leads to gaining of weight as well as obesity. Therefore, the healthy eating policy is meant to reduce sweetening of foods and appropriate processing which advocates health eating.

The second factor is leading a sedentary lifestyle. This is a type of lifestyle which integrates little physical exercise. An individual living a sedentary life often spent their time lying down or sitting while involved in an activity like socializing, watching television, reading, etc. which results in obesity (Vilchis-Gil et al., 2015). Some physical activities help reduce the obesity rate. Studies show that most young people in the United Kingdom lead to a more sedentary life than their grandparents (Oliver, 2016). Some of the habits that young people in the UK practice include; playing computer games and working in an office other than performing physical activities. Moreover, research has concluded that physical exercise helps maintain the level of insulin stable and that insulin levels which are unstable results in obesity and weight gain (Colberg et al., 2016). Mostly, Physical exercise does not necessarily means vigorous training in the gym. It can involve cycling or walk, climbing stairs etc. the sedentary lifestyles combined with the modern eating habits amplitudes obesity levels. Therefore, the policy can help increase physical activities.

Genetics is another social determinant of health. Genetics refers to the genetic variation, and heredity factors in organisms which are inherited from generation to generation ( Balkenhol et al., 2015). An individual has more probability to be overweight if any or both parents were overweight. Genetics often influence hormones which are involved in fats control. For instance, deficiency of leptin is one factor which causes of obesity. Leptin is produced in the placenta and fat cells. It regulates the gain of weight by signalling the human brain to consume less once the level of storage of fat becomes too high. Therefore, when the body fails to produce sufficient leptin or leptin cannot signal the brain to consume less, obesity occurs. Driscoll et al., (2017) also reveal that genetics can directly initiate overweight in disorders like Prader-Willi syndrome. Moreover, the study suggests that researchers believe that genes promote an individual’s probability of being obese though outside elements like abundant food supply and sedentary life also contribute to making an individual obese/overweight. This shows how genetic factors, modern eating habits and sedentary life link to promote overweight and obesity. Therefore, with the obesity and lifestyle policy, the issue of partnering with organizations such as hospitals and research institutes may help solve this genetic issue.

Furthermore, medication is another social determinant of obesity and overweight. Teichroew (2016) suggest that diseases seem to increase as states become industrialized. Some of the most common diseases in the modern world include heart attack, arthritis, asthma, liver diseases cancer, type 2 diabetes etc. these diseases has resulted in increased medication intake. On the other hand, medications such as anticonvulsants, antidepressants, valproate like Depakene are associated with gaining of weight (Rosenthal et al., 2017). Moreover, diabetes medications and oral contraceptives also have a positive impact on weight gain. Weight gain resulting from medications differs for each medication. Therefore, people with medication issues resulting in obesity are advised to change their drugs with the advice of a physician and not to discontinue the medication. Medication integrated with modern eating lifestyles, the sedentary lifestyles, and the effects of genetics on an individual amplifies obesity, therefore, the increased number of obesity in the UK.

Lastly, psychological factors influence obesity and overweight. Lambert (2018), suggests that over a third (37%) of citizens in the UK feel stressed for approximately a whole day per week. For some citizens, emotions impact their eating habits. Several people often eat excessively while responding to physiological conditions like stress, or anger. Moreover, stress is associated with less sleep. Research has disclosed that people who have less sleep, the more the probability of becoming obese. This is due to hormones imbalance which results while a person fails to sleep. Therefore the policy offering advice to healthy living is very important in reducing physiological problems and living healthy. Moreover this determinant link to excess food intake ( as stated, stressed people tend to eat a lot), and also due to nature of stress which make individual less active and mostly prefers to stay in bed or private place with less physical activity.

Trends associated with health inequalities and access to healthcare in UK

In England and the United Kingdom in general, the health gap between the poor and the rich is rapidly increasing. Despite government interventions to reduce inequalities in the health sector as well as susceptibility to disorders, people who live in the most deprived regions of the state have an increased obesity risk, overweight among other diseases. Studies indicate that, that in major regions the gap has greatly increased since 2010 even after the country witnessed a decrease in the gap over the previous years (Collishaw et al., 2019). The study has also established that the major reasons for the increasing health inequalities are complex, though the large inequality in economic growth in the UK over the years is the major contributing factor. Other factors that were identified include; social gradient, distribution of income, wealth and power.

One of the trends in health inequality in the UK is economic inequalities. Regardless of globalisation reducing the gaps in incomes between the poor and the rich in many countries, Europe, still has an increasing income which is inequality distributed. This results to huge differences in the quality of the neighbourhoods where the UK citizens live, work, and the institutions where children attend etc. on the other hand, this impacts their health-related habits, risk of being ill as well as the quality of food taken which are social determinants of health. Moreover, studies have shown that people with low income, tent to be physiologically affected compared to their rich counterparts (Lambert, 2018). Therefore, to address quality lifestyles, healthy eating, advocate for a stress-free life and promote physical exercise, the government of the UK has taken a step to intervene to ensure proper information is passed to the low-income part of the society to address obesity.

Moreover, Newton et al., (2015) suggest that Social class inequalities in the UK persist at every age and for all the major disorders. This is an indication that the more an individual is advantaged, the better their health – whether assessed as per mortality or psycho-social health and disease. These disadvantages in childhood play a part in the health’s social gradient. Because the poor mostly do not exercise frequently and gyms are perceived to be for the rich, addressing physical fitness is very important while fighting obesity.

Discrimination is another trend in inequality in life. Discrimination is still a huge problem in the UK's workplaces, schools and many other places. Since manual work is perceived for the poor, the rich adopt sedentary life which makes them obese. Therefore, it became necessary to reduce obesity by advocating and teaching people how to live healthy lifestyles. Moreover, children from poor families usually attend local schools which do not consider physical exercise as part of the curriculum. Therefore formulation of this policy and making exercise part of the curriculum is very crucial to address overweight.

How Effective the Policy In Dealing with This Health Issue and the Underlying Social Determinants of Health

The policy advocates and is designed to promote physical activity among the citizens (Uneke et al., 2019). Some of the initiatives which have been promoted in the UK to promote physical health include bicycling as well as walkability projects which have taken a huge investment in infrastructure. They concentrated more activity level and fitness level. The strategies aiming at reducing secondary behaviours like watching television and playing computer games. Unfortunately, with the increasing obesity level in the country year by year since its implementation, Newton et al., (2015), concluded that from his analysis the intervention does not affect the enhancement of fitness in the country.

Moreover, the country introduced the Change4life program that incorporates collaborative activities of the national government, local authorities, learning institutions and the NHS organisations to educate both children and adults on the significance of healthy consuming and physical exercises benefits. Also, the state has shifted from a top-down ideology by coming up with strategies where health experts from NHS work with women who are pregnant under a program known as called Start4life. Fullick (2016), suggest that there is a relative change of lifestyles and the involvement of the local authorities among other organizations in reducing obesity which shows some degree of success of the policy.

Besides, the government also adopted marketing strategies that incorporate extensive collaboration with advertising companies, media companies in the dissemination of healthy linked knowledge to enhance healthy living and eating. For instance, the government came up with an advertisement which advocated eating five fruit portions every day, reducing consumption of alcohol and unhealthy foodstuffs like salt and sugars. Moreover, the government came up with more legislation to regulate how food is processed and labelled, therefore, the Food Standard Agency enforces some more policies to ensure responsible food processing which is meant to give correct information UK citizens. Moreover in the last years, the government has introduced a sugar tax on beverages which become an act of government in 2018. Johnson (2018), suggest that this strategy is one of the best and most successful strategies in the United Kingdom as of now.

Lastly, to cut the obesity rate among school children and to implement the obesity policy, the government has introduced School Games into the curriculum. More than $128 million of government expenditure is being utilised to reinforce learning institution games. Moreover, the government has widely utilised governmental schemes, media, cultural, as well as the sports department to motivate students across the UK to take part in games and sports. Moreover, to increase student’s activities and physical exercise, the government set 120 million dollars in 2010 to various schools as well as local authorities to help in implementation travelling plans for School Travel Plans (Cauwenberghe et al., 2010). Unfortunately, students remain to be obese due to the consumption of junk foods after school and sedentary lifestyles after school which makes the government efforts unfruitful.

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