This essay shall discuss the health issue of obesity, a social health problem that is, unfortunately, growing at a rapid rate. More people are becoming obese at present due to much easier access to unhealthy foods and less effort to maintain a regular exercise routine for fitness. For example, in America, the convenience brought about by “fast food”, instant meals, TV dinners, and other quick fixes have become a normal alternative to food cooked “from scratch” with natural ingredients and a meticulous cooking process. Processed food and drinks have found their way to supermarket shelves, ready to be purchased and consumed, and provide the satisfaction of hunger or thirst faster than traditionally prepared dishes and beverages (Ahima, 2011). The World Health Organization (WHO, 2013) has come up with reports that the rate of obesity has grown, nearly doubling since the eighties. In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults aged 20 years and above have been diagnosed as overweight. Of this number, over 200 million men and almost 300 million women were considered obese. This means obese people have an excess of fat tissue in their bodies. Mascie-Taylor and Goto (2007) claim that it is the level of fat that signals if the individual is at risk of more serious diseases such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and many more.
Although it is overweight and obese individuals who directly suffer the consequences of unhealthy lifestyles, it is a society that carries the burden (Finkelstein et al., 2003). Obese individuals have come to that state due to their unhealthy habits and they should be responsible for amending their lifestyles to get back to the path of health. The consequential illnesses associated with obesity contribute to increased health care utilization, increased health care expenditures, and loss of productivity (Finkelstein et al., 2003). Regardless of socioeconomic status or educational level achieved, the lack of awareness among those who are just a little overweight leads to a consistent increase in obesity among them causing them to gain weight excessively over time thus leading towards prolonged suffering for themselves as well as their families (WHO, 2006). In addition to this, the fact that the overall costs for health care systems have risen alarmingly high means that there is even more strain on governments to meet these needs (WHO, 2006).
Media has contributed much to the prevalence of obesity as well as instilling bias against obese individuals. It seduces consumers with advertisements of high fat, high caloric processed foods that look irresistibly delicious and then criticizes overweight and obese people with negative feedback (Pearl, Phul & Brownell, 2012). Such negative bias creates discrimination towards overweight and obese people who may suffer from low self-esteem because of it. It is likely that instead of being encouraged to adopt more healthy habits, they may engage in even more self-destructive behaviors, for example, eating more unhealthy food with the belief that it will ease their pain or become more physically inactive, so as to avoid being seen by others. Emotional pain can exacerbate the negative outcomes of obesity.
Hence, society in general needs to do its share in disseminating relevant information to the public about obesity prevention. This can be achieved by teaching people to make lifestyle changes that help them manage their weight well (Johnston & Harkavy, 2009), such as maintaining a healthy balanced diet and a regular exercise regimen. It would be ideal if this is achieved from the grassroots level. School children should be educated on the perils of obesity as early as possible, especially since they are still at an age when they are impressionable and docile. With regard to adults, health promotion efforts to help individuals modify their lifestyle behaviors that contribute to obesity involve much motivation and empowerment to have more control over their health (Mizock, 2012). Information on the adverse consequences of engaging in unhealthy behaviors such as the overconsumption of junk food coupled with idleness may push people to change their behaviors into more healthy ones based on the information provided to them (Yang & Nichols, 2011).
Indeed, health care providers and everyone concerned with people’s health should adopt a more “sociological lens” when addressing the issue of obesity if they are to reach more people to shift to a healthier lifestyle and significantly reduce the risk of developing more serious illnesses caused by obesity.
References
Ahima, R.S. (2011) Digging deeper into obesity. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 121(6), 2076-2079.
Finkelstein, E. A., I. Fiebelkorn, & G. Wang (2003) National medical spending attributable to overweight and obesity: How much, and who’s paying. Health Affairs, 3(1), 219–226.
Johnston, F., & I. Harkavy. (2009) The Obesity Culture: Strategies for Change. Public Health and University-Community Partnerships London: Smith-Gordon.
Mascie-Taylor, C.G.N., & R. Goto (2007). Human variation and body mass index: A review of the universality of BMI cut-offs, gender and urban-rural differences, and secular changes. Journal of Physiological Anthropology, 26, 109–112.
Mizock, L. (2012) The double stigma of obesity and serious mental illnesses: Promoting health and recovery. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 35(6), 466-469.
Pearl, R., L., Puhl, R. M. & Brownell, K. D. (2012) Positive Media Portrayals of Obese Persons: Impact on Attitudes and Image Preferences. Health Psychology, 31(6), 821-829.
World Health Organization (WHO) (2006) Body Mass Index (BMI) Classification.
World Health Organization (WHO) (2013) Obesity and Overweight, Web.
Yang, Y.T, & Nichols, L.M. (2011) Obesity and health system reform: private vs. public responsibility. The Journal Of Law, Medicine & Ethics: A Journal Of The American Society Of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 39(3), 380-386.