<p>Assignment:Should the government be responsible for making sure that people lead healthy lives?</p>
<p>In our contemporary world, most people don not comprehend what is good for them and what can be harmful. We ‘sacrifice’ our health and well being for so called luxury and comfort, paying little attention to our physical needs. In such a situation, it becomes essential for the government to step up and take charge.
The thesis that the government plays a major role in ensuring healthy lives for people is substantiated in the recent reforms made by the Indian government in its schooling system. Recognizing the rapidly growing affections plaguing the youth, such as obesity, lethargy and other such major conditions, the Indian government introduced an hour of mandatory physical activity in every school. Although much altercation followed arguing a violation of certain human rights, the effects of the scheme dismissed them all. There was a staggering 20% decrease in child obesity, in addition to teachers reporting nationwide of the increased class interaction and activity. The example of the Indian government’s astute plan serves to highlight the benefits of government involvement in the general population’s health.
Another compelling illustration which demonstrates the detrimental effects of government exclusion from people’s health is displayed in the popular Disney movie Wall-E. Wall-E is based in a futuristic time, in which technology has progressed so much that people no longer require to even stand up to perform certain tasks. They remain sedentary at all times-eating, sleeping, interacting with others and even when excreting-and this results in chronic obesity at all ages further leading to reduced life expectancy. The government, however, takes no measure to rectify such flaws in people’s lifestyle, hence causing a prolonged succession of human downfall and eventually extinction. Thus, as it can be deduced from Wall-E, government involvement in people’s lives in matters of health is not only recommended but also sometimes necessary.
To summarize, it can be observed in the examples of the Indian government and Wall-E that the government taking responsibility of people’s health can prove beneficial and the lack of which could lead to cataclysmic events. As Franklin D Roosevelt once rightly said ,'The government is not a body of leaders, but rather a body of parents, whose actions can make-or break- the future of its people. </p>