Policies for Healthier Communities: Historical, Legal, and Practical Elements of the Obesity Prevention Movement

Abstract

The U.S. population is facing an obesity crisis wrought with severe health and economic costs. Because social and environmental factors have a powerful influence over lifestyle choices, a national obesity prevention strategy must involve population-based interventions targeted at the places where people live, study, work, shop, and play. This means that policy, in addition to personal responsibility, must be part of the solution. This article first describes the emergence of and theory behind the obesity prevention movement. It then explains how government at all levels is empowered to develop obesity prevention policy. Finally, it explores eight attributes of a promising state or local obesity prevention policy and sets the obesity prevention movement in the context of a larger movement to promote healthy communities and prevent chronic disease.

Social Determinants of Health Related to Obesity

“…This means that policy, in addition to personal responsibility, must be a part of the solution. 4 Given the powerful influence that social and environmental factors have on an individual's available lifestyle choices, a critical component of a national obesity prevention strategy must involve policy interventions targeted at places where people live, learn, work, shop, and play. 36 First Lady Michelle Obama amplified the issues in early 2010 by launching the Let's Move!…”

“…1 Social and environmental factors have an impact over individuals' lives, and, therefore, interventions must be targeted at communities in which people live, work, and play. 4 Our health is determined in part by access to social and economic opportunities; the resources and support available in our homes, neighborhoods, and communities; the quality of our schooling; the safety of our workplaces; the cleanliness of our water, food, and air; and the nature of our social interactions and relationships. 5 Healthy People 2020 highlights the importance of addressing the social determinants of health (SDH) by including "create social and physical environments that promote good health for all" as…”

Re-entering obesity prevention: a qualitative-empirical inquiry into the subjective aetiology of extreme obese adolescents

“…Since the last few years however, these confines have been cut back step by step. Research increasingly tries to capture the complexity of obesity as a medical and social phenomenon [7]. Moreover, efforts were made to genuinely integrate approaches of environmental prevention [8].…”

Atomic bombs and obesity: legacies for perinatal health

“…Descriptions of an 'epidemic' of obesity across all age groups have pushed the constellation of issues that both orbit and define this topic into public consciousness (Gollust, Eboh, & Barry, 2012). Health promotion activities and strategies designed to address these issues are correspondingly developing and emerging in an attempt to address these issues at local, national, societal and individual level (Graff, Kappagoda, Wooten, McGowan, & Ashe, 2012). Obese and morbidly obese women are an important focus of some of these strategies and activities, and indeed, given the potential impact on their infants and children, this group of women might even be considered to represent one of the most important health improvement targets.…”