by Carl Marshall

Created on: March 04, 2011   Last Updated: March 05, 2011

It would not be desirable for us to see a communist style leadership which enforced a certain way of life upon us. In a free democratic society people are able to make their own lifestyle choices. However, there can be no denying that governments do have a responsibility to educate and guide people along the way. The vast increase in obesity over the last two decades is far too much for politicians to turn a blind eye to. Some health experts even believe that the obesity crisis will cause a reduction in overall average life expectancy despite a steady gradual increase over hundreds of years.

Health education

The formal education within schools is strongly focused on the academic development of children. Unfortunately, there is very little direction and guidance in terms of making children understand the foundations which should ideally be in place in order to be happy and content in life. Good health is a very important component of enabling someone to live the life of their dreams. Governments should require schools to make more time for physical activity. It should not just simply be about finding out who the athletes are. This should be about helping all of the children to develop their level of physical fitness. Too many children are put off by those who are highly competitive when participating in sports. The development and maintenance of fitness should be a key component of formal education for school children.

Food legislation

There needs to be much clearer nutritional information on food labels. The manufacturers should not be able to be economical with the truth. For example, sometimes a product is labelled as a a healthy range product because it is low in fat, but it might well still be high in sugar. Labels should be able to be clearly understood by everyone and not just by those with a degree in nutrition.

Subsidisation of leisure services

Gym memberships and sports facilities generally should be cheap enough so that families can afford to use them often enough to gain significant benefits. Here the government has a role in partly financing the cost. Also, there should be more restriction on building on land which could be used as parks and sports fields.

Employment legislation

It is within the interests of both the employer and the employee that a healthy work-life balance can be achieved. This might require a legal framework to be put in place which gives the employee entitlement to having enough time off on a reasonably consistent basis in order to be able to participate in physical activities.

Financial assistance

Those companies which produce healthy food products should be allowed access to government interest free loans for marketing purposes. This would be fairly easy to arrange and would help to get the pendulum back in the middle because currently fast food gets much more exposure than healthy food.

A long slow process

There will not be an overnight shift in understanding and awareness of the issue. Governments can't solve the problem by waving a magic wand. Neither should they force people to change. However, it would be crass to believe that there should be no goverment action at all. Hopefully, with the right initiatives, the problem will gradually be reduced as has been seen with smoking.

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