Obesity

THE BIG ‘O’

For years, obesity has been an alarming trend across the globe. Having abnormal or too much fat accumulation, obese people are those who have a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015, with more than 600 million obese adults aged 18 years old and above in 2014, worldwide obesity has rapidly escalated more than twice since 1940. Also suffering from this health problem were 42 million children aged 5 years old and below.

Studies of WHO have also shown that a dominant portion of people globally live in countries where more overweight and obese people die than underweight ones (2015). Obesity could cause cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and cancer, which are all fatal health problems.

Deemed preventable, calls for action among individuals, corporate groups and the government continue to arise to lessen the other health risks obesity brings.

FAST FOOD, ‘FATS’ FOOD

In the United States, alongside the rapid increase of the obesity rate is the growth of the fast food industry (Currie, Della Vigna, Moretti &Pathania, 2009). Often unhealthy, fast food creates a huge impact on a person’s health because of its availability and proximity.

Moreover, De Vogli, Kouvonen & Gimeno (2014) defined fast food as “food that can be prepared quickly and easily and is sold in restaurants and snack bars as a quick meal or to be taken out.” Eating ultra-processed food like this most likely leads to a dramatic change in an individual’s dietary patterns.

Spurlock (2004, as cited in Currie et. al., 2009) explained how fast food is less healthy than restaurant food. According to them, the large portions, fast service, cheap costs, and high calorie meals fast food chains offer are to blame.

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY

Brownell (2010) stated that rising portion sizes and increasing amounts of sugar among modern food affect the body’s balance of hunger, satiety and body weight. Also, some factors in the modern food environment compromise or even take full control of one’s biological and psychological regulatory system affecting his food intake and weight, making it difficult to be ‘responsible.’

Until recently, American health approaches including those towards obesity, were focused on people themselves (Brownell, 2010). In fact, in an online survey by Clear Voice Research in 2014 (as reported in College of ACES, 2014), 94 percent of the respondents believe that individuals are primarily or somewhat to blame for being obese.

However, Brenna Ellison (as mentioned in College of ACES, 2014), a researcher from University of Illinois, if Americans view obesity as a personal problem, the government must be cautious on the solutions that they will propose and implement, even leaving a chance for reevaluation.

THE AUTHORITY

After obtaining results showing that countries with strict market regulation have smaller increase in fast food consumption and mean BMI, De Vogli, et. al. (2014) suggested creating similar policies for nations experiencing higher obesity rates.