Awareness of Eating Disorder and their Legislation (Essay Sample)

Awareness of Eating Disorder and their Legislation
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The essay discusses on various legislations that have been put in place to deal with eating disorders among school-aged children and adolescents. It looks at the process a bill passes through before it becomes law. The essay explains various legislations that have been put in place by both the Senate and the state to deal with such condition and how nurses and the nursing profession are handling such conditions. It explains the benefits and disadvantages of legislation of the bill of awareness of the eating disorder and how it how it has affected the public. Lastly, the essay looks at various examples of the congressional representative, the state Senate, and two assembly people in my region that are Garfield, New Jersey, Bergen County.
A bill in New Jersey becomes a law by passing through ten steps: idea development, bill drafting, bill introduction, committee reference, second reading, third reading, House vote, a bill introduced to the second house, governor's action, and later it becomes law. In idea developed, the legislator decides to sponsor a bill to parliament. In the bill-drafting segment, the office of the legislative service provides assistance with research of the law and prepares the bill. In the bill introduction to the first house, the legislator passes the bill to the Senate, who reads it aloud in the first house. This is known as the first reading. The bill is later printed and sent to the committee reference where the appointed senate reviews the bill (Garavaglia, 2011). The court may send it for second reading if not satisfied with the statement or when the committee wishes to speed up its consideration in parliament. In the committee action, it considers the bill at a meeting open to public and may report it to the House for amendments, but if not stated; the bill remains in committee. In the second reading, the Bill is read a second time until it is eligible for change. In the third reading, the changes made to the bill are read aloud in the house. The house votes the bill, and if it is proposed by 2/3 of the first house, it is sent to the second house. In the second house, the same process applies (Garavaglia, 2011). If the second house changes the bill, it is returned to the first house for voting. After the first and second house is in agreement with the bill, it is sent to the governor. He may sign or return it to the second house. After the governor signs the bill, it becomes law or it may become law after 45 days have expired if no action is taken.
The New Jersey bill, which was enacted in 2009, provided information on eating disorders and how to deal with such kind of disorders. These eating disorders included anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorders, and bulimia nervosa. The bill was enacted to reduce cases of eating disorders among children and even adults (Garavaglia, 2011). It was enacted to increase awareness on understanding of various types of eating disorders and give an insight on how to live healthy lives. It provided children, especially adolescents with information about eating disorders, which include the signs and symptoms of various eating disorders and how to deal with such conditions in our society. It provided those students with information of strategies on how to reduce the risk factors associated with binge eating disorders. The bill also teaches on various nutrition and healthy eating habits to prevent such disorders (Garavaglia, 2011). Lastly, it helps students monitor what they eat and how often they eat by providing information on the body image. This promotes self-esteem when they are aware that they are eating healthy.
According to the state, 4,000 adolescents struggle with the disorder, which makes them, want to end their lives, have emotional imbalance, and decrease in their physical health performance. It was also noted that the eating disorder received inadequate funding from the senate. Other eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive overeating resulted to stigma, and under treatment of those affected by the condition since the adolescents were embarrassed and had to put it as a secret (Garavaglia, 2011). This resulted to under reporting of the disorder and hence they could not get enough help to deal with the condition. The treatment that the state allocated for the disorder is $ 500 to $ 2,000 per day, which could not cater for all the adolescents affected by the condition. This is because the cost of inpatient treatment was $ 30,000 while that of outpatient treatment was $ 100,000 monthly. Despite this factor, the state enacted a bill to create awareness by encouraging citizens to learn more about the condition and to learn about the obstacles in treatment.
The reason I chose this legislation was because during my pediatrics, clinical rotation, I witnessed many school-aged children and adolescents in the hospital for eating disorders so I felt this should be implemented. I also pitied those affected with the condition and wanted to provide a solution for them. The legislation will improve the health of the public since they will be more informed about the various eating disorders and the signs and symptoms of the disorders. Being informed will improve their welfare, as they will not be afraid to seek medical attention before the problem becomes a menace and a serious condition. Those who enacted the bill believed that it would reduce cases of anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia causes adolescents to be very thin and underweight while bulimia causes them to have a normal weight but some are overweight. These two conditions cause one to vomit after eating. The limitation of the legislation is that those girls who wish to join the fashion industry cannot do so with the condition. The bill is also said to cause panic about the female body and encourages more policing and control over women’s bodies, which in real sense women do not like to be controlled. The legislation would have to increase the amount allocated on eating disorders to be able to serve all adolescents. This means that the state and senate will have to allocate a greater budget for the eating disorder.
I agree with the bill since it helps deal with cases of stigma and the state can help these individuals live a healthy life. The bill also allocates funds for treatment of various eating disorders, which reduces the number of people with the condition. I believe the bill is advantageous since it will help children and adolescents live healthy lives and will teach them about the signs and symptoms of the disorder. When the bill is enacted, children and adolescents with the condition can get treatment at low costs since the government has set aside funds for their treatment. They are also in a position to know what to eat to improve their livelihoods like doing away with junk foods completely and eating balanced diets. This will greatly reduce the condition as the adolescents and children will now be aware of what causes the condition. The legislation also has made medical institutions train nurses on how to deal with the condition. When an individual is known to have this eating disorder for example girls, they face restrictions when joining the fashion industry since there are regulations when joining the fashion industry that one should be physically fit before she joins the industry. This has been quite a challenge for these individuals as they are restricted to joining the fashion industry and can only do so when they are physically fit. Many people who have the condition fear seeking treatment since they do not want embarrassment and therefore prefer to keep it a secret. Keeping a secret may make them not get the right medical attention making their condition worsen. It is however disadvantageous to the state since they will have to allocate more funds for the treatment of the condition. The bill should therefore be passed into law to reduce the causes of the eating disorder and improve the lives of our young generations.
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