Key Ethical Considerations in the Health Advocacy Campaign Essay

Part one outlined the extent of child obesity in the United States. The effect of obesity is that it has strained the American healthcare system by increasing the prevalence of various deceases that are associated with obesity. Child obesity is a prevalent and major health concern among the American parents. Several campaigns have been carried out in America with the aim of reducing the prevalence of the disease in the American Community (O'Malley et al., 2014). Some of them include “Action for Healthy Kids Weight Loss Campaign” and the “LET’S MOVE Healthy weight campaign.” Both campaigns targeted the reduction of childhood obesity and aimed at providing avenues through which children can be prevented from becoming obese. In the first part, I outlined my advocacy campaign that equally aims at contributing to the fight against obesity. This advocacy campaign focused on child diet. It outlined a healthy deity for babies from the time they begin eating. The rationale behind this campaign was to develop a taste for healthy foods among young children from a young age and hence control their affinity for unhealthy foods as they grow.

The Implementation of this advocacy campaign required an environment of legislative and policy goodwill. The second part discussed several existing laws aimed at curbing the spread of obesity in the American society. These include the Farm Bill of 2008 and the Transportation Bill. The section discussed the shortcomings of these laws that limit their effectiveness in dealing with the problem of obesity (Phillips, Ryan, & Raczynski, 2011). Most fundamentally, the success of raise a healthy child campaign will largely depend on its compliance with the ethical consideration of the American population (O'Malley et al., 2014). Therefore, it is imperative to put into account several ethical considerations in the implementation of this campaign to match to the ethical requirements of the society.

Several ethical dilemmas could be encountered during the implementation of this campaign and the program itself. First, the American Nurses Association outlines the need for respecting the rights of patients in the course of the profession. In this case, it is right for envy public health practitioner to respect the choices and the personal rights of the people they are serving. One of the fundamental rights of people is to be able to choose the foods they eat and the time that they eat it. Therefore, dictating a person’s meals is violating their fundamental right to choose (Minihan, Must, Andrewson & Popper, 2011). The campaign advocates for the setting up a menu for parents to use in the feeding of their children. The ethical dilemma in the implementation of this advocacy campaign relates to how to navigate the right to choose and still ensure that parents and children stick to the prescribed meals and feeding pattern.

Therefore, the success of this advocacy campaign will depend on its ability to preserve the right to choose among the people while ensuring the children remain loyal to the feeding menu outlined in this advocacy campaign (Crawford, Gosliner & Kayman, 2011). With the desire to overcome this dilemma, the camping will strategize on effective ways of ensuring compliance without compelling. The parents will not be compelled to undertake the menu prescribed under this advocacy campaign, but the campaign will enable them to choose it voluntarily (Minihan, Must, Andrewson & Popper, 2011). The healthcare practitioner will explain the basic advantages of the foodstuffs outlined in this menu. However, the decision on whether or not to adopt it will remain with the parents. The parents will either have the opportunity to consent or reject the proposal (Long, Henderson & Schwartz, 2013). This way, the freedom to choose will still be respected will people are given an opportunity to use healthy foods.

The second ethical dilemma lies in Provision 7 of the ethical code of conduct in healthcare provision as outlined by the American Nurses Association. Among other things, this ethical provision requires the health practitioner to collaborate with both other practitioners as well as the community in delivering healthcare services. In the case of this campaign, this ethical requirement in the healthcare practice will provide an ethical dilemma considering the diversity of the community (Minihan, Must, Andrewson & Popper, 2011). For instance, the same community has farmers who produce the very foodstuff that this campaign seeks to prohibit or limit its use. Secondly, the society equally comprises of companies that process meat products as well as other foodstuffs that the campaign seeks to discourage (Long, Henderson & Schwartz, 2013). Many families work in this company, and the indirect implication of this advocacy campaign is that they are likely to lose their jobs. In this case, the ethical dilemma relates to the need to involve the entire community in the implementation of this advocacy even when it advocacy affects the economic status of a section of the community.

While seeking to resolve this issue, the campaign will take some fundamental precaution. First, this advocacy campaign will focus on educating people on how the health merits of the campaign far outweigh its economic implication in the end (Crawford, Gosliner & Kayman, 2011). This will ensure that the people understand the action being undertaken and are in full support for this advocacy. Secondly, the advocacy campaign will seek to lobby the government to seek alternative ways through which such food products can be utilized rather than being used for human consumption. This will ensure that the demand for such meat products alongside other food products that this program limits finds alternative use and hence maintains its current demand (Long, Henderson & Schwartz, 2013). Consequently, the community members will not necessarily lose their source of livelihood by the implementation of this advocacy campaign.

Similarly, Provision 7 of the ethical code of conducts in the provision of healthcare as outlined by the American Nurses Association requires the nurses to contribute positively in building the existing body of knowledge about the healthcare (O'Malley et al., 2014). This campaign equally seeks to contribute in building the existing body of knowledge about the health effects of obesity. The challenge in building this body of knowledge concerning the healthy eating advocacy campaign lies in drawing the line between public health and the individual freedom to eat what they want and to grow as they wish. In most cases, people often have their tastes and preferences in the foods they choose to eat. Moreover, some people may deliberately desire to add weight significantly (Long, Henderson & Schwartz, 2013). Therefore, the ethical dilemma in the implementation of this advocacy campaign relates to the accommodation of these varying individual interests within the framework of its implementation and contribution to the existing body of knowledge.

Given this ethical dilemma and building this knowledge, this advocacy campaign will take several deliberate efforts to navigate it. First, the advocacy campaign will focus on the enthusiastic population (Minihan, Must, Andrewson & Popper, 2011). Whereas people have their personal preferences regarding the foods they eat and that some people have preferences for the foods that this advocacy campaign seeks to limit, several people are genuinely yearning to receive the dietary help that will ensure their children and themselves maintain a healthy body weight (Crawford, Gosliner & Kayman, 2011). The campaign will respect the individual’s tests and presences and hence contribute to building a body of knowledge in a way that only informs the public about the importance of healthy eating rather than compelling them to take up eating habits that they have no personal preferences. The advocacy will not compel them to take up eating habits that counter their preferences. By taking an educational approach, this advocacy campaign will navigate the ethical dilemma identified above.

Several ethics and lobbying laws apply to the advocacy campaign outlined in this paper. First, the major ethical law that greatly affects this advocacy campaign is the ethical law regarding the extent of state intervention on individual autonomy. Under this law, the individual autonomy must largely be taken into consideration when the state intervenes…