Population health policy

Population health policy

Introduction

Obesity, particularly childhood obesity, is a rising global concern that has taken a toll on annual health expenditure across the country. Besides bringing about a considerable burden in the health sector, the impacts of obesity have contributed to reduced productivity as well as high absenteeism among children in our society. According to the report given by the American obesity association, approximately 15.5 percent of teenagers between age 12 and 19 years and 15.3 percent of kids between age 6 and 9 years are obese. Policymakers who aim at reducing the rates of obesity often lack precise evaluations on the cost-effectiveness of policy alternatives. The state of Maine imposes a higher excise tax on all sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and commonly withholds the purchases of SSB on supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP). The SSB program together with the policies that influence SNAP purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages aims at reducing the prevalence of obesity among children and teenagers and therefore reducing the cost of healthcare-related to childhood obesity by $93 million in the next ten years.

How the policy is designed to improve cost-effectiveness and healthcare equity

The SSB program and policies that cover SNAP purchases in Maine State focused on two main ideas. The first one involved a one cent per ounce exercise tax on all sugar-sweetened beverages in the state while the second one focused on a SNAP policy which would limit the purchase of SSB using SNAP funds. The two specific population targeted policies were developed after a ten-year research project conducted by Maine obesity policy committee and Maine Harvard prevention research center. The policy was initiated in two consecutive phases. The first phase, which was launched in 2013 focused on the SSB excise tax while the second was initiated in 2016 and focused on SNAP policies which restricted the purchase of SSB.

The research for the policy involved the existing groups, the stakeholders as well as researchers to integrate an unconventional model of cost-efficiency into the previously established strategy, which was well-developed. The results from the study indicated that there is an excellent potential for improvement of health and cost-efficiency in obese adolescent and children in Maine State. They noted that from one cent per ounce SSB, the excise tax projected a health care cost saving of $78.3 million and a 3650 year saving of Quality-Adjusted Life. This, therefore, reduces both the federal and state expenditure of obesity-related health conditions.

The policy accounts for any relevant ethical, legal and political factors by ensuring that the measures are approved by the relevant authorities and also ensuring that they aim at achieving public health benefits. The policy is structured to promote improved health among the public by guaranteeing minimum harm. Even though the policy might affect the productivity of the company, it does not hinder its operations. The policy, however, encourages the company to carry out several activities such as menu-labelling to create awareness in public about the nutrition and cabs level of their products. In addition, the policy is not sponsored by the government to keep it away from political factors but is instead supported health care organizations.

Goals related to the policy

The issue of childhood obesity affects not only health care organizations but also the federal and state governance. With the high rates of obesity-related health conditions among children, healthcare workers have a high workload. The federal and states government is also required to ensure that health care organizations have enough resources and funding to provide care to the patients. This brings about a strain in their budget due to the high cases of obesity. The policy is, therefore, well developed to ensure that there is a limited supply of SSB, which are a significant contributor to obesity.

Most stakeholders do not agree with the SNAP policy restricting the purchase of SSB as they note that the SNAP recipients had been targeted unfairly as compared to the SSB excise duty. Most of these SNAP benefit recipients are individuals with low income of less than 50 percent of the federal poverty line. A substantial number of stakeholders, therefore, feel that the policy was biased against SNAP benefit recipients and the policy limited their choices. However, it can be argued that SSB purchase restrictions for SNAP recipients are following the SNAP nutrition objective. One can also say that it was not wise for taxpayers to subsidize unhealthy foods which were a significant contributor to obesity. Stakeholders in the health care organization are particularly consistent about the health benefits that resulted from the SNAP restriction policy on SSB purchases.

According to the policies developed in Healthy People 2020, proper nutrition, healthy body weight and physical activities are an essential part of a person’s wellbeing. Together, these activities not only reduces obesity cases in individuals but also decreases a person’s risk of developing other severe health conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases as well as stroke. Due to the unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical exercises among most Americans, the nation has experienced a dramatic increase in obesity. The Healthy People, therefore, aims at helping the people attain the current federal physical activities guideline for exercises and ensuring a healthy intake of diet. This would decrease the number of obese children and teenagers, therefore saving on the medical cost of health issues related to unhealthy body weight. However, this target has not been met particularly in the low income, and racially diverse communities.

According to the study carried out by , a community-academic partnership is essential in providing health education and technical help to the underserved communities. While SNAP continues to offer food assistance to communities suffering from food insecurity, the SNAP policy to restrict the purchase of sugar-sweetened beverages has also been effective in reducing cases of obesity in children and adolescents.

Advocacy strategies

Obesity is not only a health problem in Maine state but also throughout the world. As the incoming advanced registered nurses, we have to act through advocacy and reduce the prevalence of obesity in our nation. The most effective way of advocacy would be by joining a national organization which is committed to giving a voice for the particular health issue of obesity. Various organizations, including obesity action coalition, have made a significant impact on reducing obesity by being a key proponent in multiple public health care policies which govern individuals with obesity. By joining and supporting such organizations, we have a better chance of accessing the benefits of various policies in the country.

Policies that aim at fighting unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical activity are top health challenges in the United States. Although the two-tiered policy of SSB excise tax and SNAP’S SSB restrictions in Maine state are achieving excellent results in saving health care costs, the plan will only continue to be effective if it receives support throughout the country. To the policy to achieve its objectives, there must be a cultural and behavioral change in the nation. A program aimed at advocating for healthier eating habits and exercising as well as minimum disparagement of policies that focus on healthful behaviors need to happen.

Health promotions based on faith are not limited to Christians but also involve people from other religious standings. With the increasing diversity of the population in the United States, there has also been a significant diversity of religious statuses in the healthcare workforce. As a Christian and an advanced registered nurse, I have both moral and professional obligations to oversee the impacts of various policies, assist in improving health through political activism as well as promote health at both a local and national level. As the Bible states, we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Our neighbors are not necessarily those around us but every person who needs our health. This includes people with different religious beliefs, race and social status. Through nursing practice activities of proving care and guidance to patients, we fulfil the call of God to care for each other.

References

Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study (CHOICES). (2019). Cost-Effectiveness Analysis & Stakeholder Evaluation of 2 Obesity Prevention Policies in Maine, US. Retrieved from: https://choicesproject.org/publications/cost-effectiveness-analysis-stakeholder-evaluation-two-obesity-prevention-policies-maine/

Balint, K. A., & George, N. M. (January 01, 2015). Faith community nursing scope of practice: extending access to healthcare. Journal of Christian Nursing: a Quarterly Publication of Nurses Christian Fellowship, 32, 1, 34-40.

Deavenport-Saman, A., Piridzhanyan, A., Solomon, O., Phillips, Z., Kuo, T., & Yin, L. (2019). Early Childhood Obesity Among Underserved Families: A Multilevel Community-Academic Partnership. American journal of public health, 109(4), 593-596.

Chen, Y., Zhang, Y., & Wang, L. (2018). Low diagnostic accuracy of body mass index-based and waist circumference-based references of childhood overweight and obesity in identifying overfat among Chinese children and adolescents. BioMed research international, 2018.

Nguyen, J. (2018). Childhood Obesity: United States.

Gerritsen, S., Wall, C., & Morton, S. (2017, April). Exploring the obesity prevention potential of early childhood education services in World Congress on Public Health.