Exploring the Government Policy on Childhood Obesity which is on Increase

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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ABSTRACT

The paper focuses upon the notions related to the child obesity. However, over the last few decades, the levels of childhood obesity have increased substantially both globally and within the United Kingdom, with such a rise exacerbating individual and societal problems. Therefore, the rationale of this dissertation is to simplify casual reasons that influence the tendency of children to suffer from this disorder and to critically analyse current governmental initiatives that have been produced to reduce childhood obesity within the United Kingdom. However, the research design of the paper comprises of qualitative research which focuses upon the secondary data gathered from databases, books and newspapers. Furthermore, the conclusions drawn within this report are that the aetiology of childhood obesity is multifaceted and therefore requires varied policy strategies to reduce/modify inappropriate influential factors. In analysing governmental initiatives it was found that the current New Labour administration has instigated a plethora of interventions which include initiatives to change children and familial behaviour as well as attempting to modify environmental causal factors. In evaluating such policies, specific initiatives to modify behaviour were found to be positive theory but problematic in practice, with difficulties being found in collaboration, changing statutory cultures and funding. Although societal interventions have been many and varied, it was assessed that they were limited in scope and only partially successful in changing environmental influences of childhood obesity. Therefore, the report concludes that the current government requires to modify its approach by more clearly defining roles/responsibilities of involved agencies, ensure appropriate funding for initiatives and to consider a greater degree of redistributive policy strategies to reduce societal factors of childhood obesity.

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1

Introduction1

Definitions3

Prevalence4

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW7

Introduction to Causal Factors7

Biological Factors7

Lifestyle Factors9

Parental Influences10

Contemporary Cultural Factors11

Socio-Economic Influences13

CHAPTER 3: AIMS OF RESEARCH15

Introduction to Government Initiatives15

Overview of Governmental Ideology15

Specific Statutory Initiatives18

Healthcare18

Education22

Societal, Governmental Interventions25

Contemporary cultural factors25

Socio-economic28

CHAPTER 04: METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS32

Research Design32

Data Collection32

CHAPTER 05: RESULTS OR ANALYSIS35

Government Programmes - Health eating Campaign35

Recession Causes37

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

Introduction

In the recent times there appears a great deal of debate on what constitutes the principal health problem facing current British society of the 21st Century and subsequently which health disorder requires priority interventions by the current government. Commentators argue that coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the key problem present in the society as this disorder is a contributing reason in the deaths of over one hundred thousand people yearly in England (Milburn, 2000). However, Roberts (2004) asserts that diabetes affects almost 2.5% of the English population and is ...