One of the things that somebody with an MPH is qualified to do is be a public health official. You'll have taken all of the courses in administration, environmental health, policy and legislation, and grant writing that you'll ever need.
Unfortunately, what our schools are producing don't seem to be capable leaders who have can effectively improve America's health without trampling all over the Constitution.
Let's take the worldwide battle on obesity, for example.
Over and over again, when I read other student's papers, when I read textbooks, or actual public health official's statements (I'm looking at you Michael Jacobson), the only solution that they can come up with in order to trim down our waistline involves creating new taxes and laws, which instead only result in trimming down our wallets as well as our freedoms.
The 4 most common ways I see people thinking that they can fight obesity are these:
- portion control laws
- unhealthy food taxes
- ingredient control laws
- mandate that grocery stores lower the cost of healthy foods
Let's look at the first one, portion control laws.
New York recently instituted something like this when they said people can no longer buy a certain size of soda. It was supposedly brave. Where does this end though? When does buying large pizzas become illegal, or super sized Snickers? I can see the day when trick-or-treaters are rounded up into the back of cop cars.
These are absolutely ridiculous.
I can remember discussing this in one of my undergrad nutrition classes when the law first came out. The entire class was in agreement with the law. I couldn't believe my ears! I sat there thinking to myself, "What are we preparing for ourselves? If these people get into office, we're doomed."
The second type of law is unhealthy food taxes.
This seems to work with cigarettes, and alcohol, so why not try Oreos? Once again though, who is to mandate what is unhealthy and what is not? What about foods such as eggs? I can easily cook an egg in a way where it is going to be full of artery clogging fats that are even more dangerous that whatever could be in a Pop-Tart.
And how are food companies such as Nabisco, General Mills, and Post going to respond to these potential taxes? By upping their prices, and increasing their advertising, resulting in a much larger grocery bill for you when your wife NEEDS her Chips Ahoy.
The third type of law involves ingredient control.
This means that the government gets to mandate what you can put into your food, and what you cannot. Obviously we have the FDA to make sure that people aren't putting lead into your cereal, but do you really want the government telling people how much sugar they can put into their soda?
Not only would your Pepsi taste funny, but the government would once again be reaching its fingers into peoples' lives.
The last, possibly strangest public health 'solution' to obesity is to mandate that grocery stores lower the cost of fresh produce.
That's right. The government comes into a grocery store and says, "Hey, you're selling apples for $1.50/pound. People will never be able to afford that. They're going to buy unhealthy food now instead. You need to lower the prices, or we're going to fine you and throw you in jail."
First off, if you want people to have money to buy food, how about you don't take >25% of their paycheck every week. Second, what gives the government the authority to come in and tell you how much you can charge for a product? The grocery industry already battles razor-thin margins. Why do you want to further harm them? Seriously, my grocery store already only has 2 lanes open as it is. Don't make it worse.
In conclusion...
So, be on the lookout for this stuff. These trains of thought are becoming a lot more common than you think.
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| Look! An MPH student! |
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