Does Government Have a Role in Curbing Obesity‪?‬

Widespread concern over the prevalence of obesity has led to various proposals to curb what is often referred to as a public health crisis or epidemic. The U.S. government established "Healthy People" goals of 15% or less for adult obesity and 5% for children and adolescents by 2010. (1) Neither goal has been met. On Feb 9, 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama announced with much fanfare her "Let's Move" campaign to solve the problem of childhood obesity. One concern is the strain on public budgets. Treatment of obese patients has been estimated to cost $147 billion in2008, accounting for 9.1% of all medical spending. (2)