Public Policy Versus Individual Rights in Childhood Obesity Interventions: Perspectives From the Arkansas Experience With Act 1220 of 2003
نویسندگان
چکیده
Childhood obesity is a major public health problem. Experts recommend that prevention and control strategies include population-based policies. Arkansas Act 1220 of 2003 is one such initiative and provides examples of the tensions between individual rights and public policy. We discuss concerns raised during the implementation of Act 1220 related to the 2 primary areas in which they emerged: body mass index measurement and reporting to parents and issues related to vending machine access. We present data from the evaluation of Act 1220 that have been used to address concerns and other research findings and conclude with a short discussion of the tension between personal rights and public policy. States considering similar policy approaches should address these concerns during policy development, involve multiple stakeholder groups, establish the legal basis for public policies, and develop consensus on key elements.
منابع مشابه
Arkansas Act 1220 of 2003 to reduce childhood obesity: its implementation and impact on child and adolescent body mass index.
Arkansas was among the first states to pass comprehensive legislation to combat childhood obesity, with Arkansas Act 1220 of 2003. Two distinct but complementary evaluations of the process, impact, and outcomes of Act 1220 are being conducted: first, surveillance of the weight status of Arkansas children and adolescents, using the statewide data amassed from the required measurements of student...
متن کاملPublic health professionals as policy entrepreneurs: Arkansas's childhood obesity policy experience.
In response to a nationwide rise in obesity, several states have passed legislation to improve school health environments. Among these was Arkansas's Act 1220 of 2003, the most comprehensive school-based childhood obesity legislation at that time. We used the Multiple Streams Framework to analyze factors that brought childhood obesity to the forefront of the Arkansas legislative agenda and resu...
متن کاملArkansas’ Experience: Statewide Surveillance and Parental Information on the Child Obesity Epidemic abstract
Parents, clinicians, public health officials, and policy makers need readily available information on the extent of the childhood obesity epidemic. As in any epidemic, the strategies and tools used to combat the imminent threat are frequently based on scientific rationale and experience but applied in areas in which we lack complete understanding. The urgent need for information requires execut...
متن کاملArkansas' experience: statewide surveillance and parental information on the child obesity epidemic.
Parents, clinicians, public health officials, and policy makers need readily available information on the extent of the childhood obesity epidemic. As in any epidemic, the strategies and tools used to combat the imminent threat are frequently based on scientific rationale and experience but applied in areas in which we lack complete understanding. The urgent need for information requires execut...
متن کاملNo change in weight-based teasing when school-based obesity policies are implemented.
OBJECTIVES To examine rates of weight-based teasing before initiation of school-based childhood obesity prevention policies (Arkansas Act 1220 of 2003) and during the 2 years following policy implementation, as well as demographic factors related to weight-based teasing. DESIGN Analysis of consecutive random cross-sectional statewide telephone surveys conducted annually across 3 years. SETT...
متن کامل