Private Problems and Public Policy Issues

Over the past three decades, obesity across the United States has continued one of the most heated debates in many quarters. It is extremely easy to agree that the physical health of an individual, to the larger extent, is his or her own responsibility.

As such, one cannot blame any other person for being unhealthy or, quite specifically, being obese. As such, this is largely a private issue. This has remained so until recently when the US government has recognized obesity as a major public health issue.

This is because it is leading to numerous chronic diseases for both adults and children but it contains to cost the US government billions of dollars every year, which could be spent on other helpful programs (Novak & Brownell, 2012).

The private issue, therefore, becomes a public health issue, which automatically makes it a matter of public health policy.

The government, as well as other parties of interest, has to take part in dealing with the problem, which, for many years, would be blamed on individuals and families.

This has come to the extent of calling upon the food industry and the government at local and national levels to enact legislation and regulations to deal with the problem.

The legislative and regulatory efforts have been partly the result of the National Summit on Legal Preparedness for Obesity Prevention and Control, which was held in 2008 and organized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Dietz, Benken, & Hunter, 2009).

The summit has resulted in the gradual evolution of laws and regulations that will put the relevant stakeholders to task in the near future, which is an excellent case of demonstrating how private problems can become public policy issues.