Application of law to the childhood obesity epidemic.
Childhood obesity is in important respects a result of legal policies that influence both dietary intake and physical activity. The law must shift focus away from individual risk factors alone and seek instead to promote situational and environmental influences that create an atmosphere conducive to health. To attain this goal, advocates should embrace a population-wide model of public health, and policymakers must critically examine the fashionable rhetoric of consumer choice.
Alderman
Jess
J
Public Health Advocacy Institute, Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, MA, USA.
Smith
Jason A
JA
Fried
Ellen J
EJ
Daynard
Richard A
RA
D000293:Adolescent; D000329:Advertising / Q000191:economics; D002648:Child; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D015444:Exercise; D019649:Food Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005522:Food Services / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology