Obesity

Obesity

Obesity is one of the most common chronic diseases in our society. Obesity is all over the globe. Only in the United States there are over 75 million obese adults. According to the CDC (Centers for disease) around 112.000 deaths a year are due to obesity. This is because obesity carries some potential sicknesses. These illnesses include diabetes, heart disease, heart failure, high cholesterol, birth defects etc. Obesity is most often determined by the Body Mass Index, or BMI. BMI is a calculator involving the person’s height, weight and gender. This is calculated using    this will then give you a number symbolising your weight. It is said that for an adult any number over 30 means you are obese (one should mention that this calculator can be misleading for people that are pregnant, lactating or very muscular).  [pic 1]

The articles are in many ways written opposite to each other’s. Text A speaks a lot about how obesity is a huge problem in the UK and how the government should do something more to prevent obesity before it becomes “unresolvable”. Meanwhile text B mentions how loads of British men have started to do something about this issue. This text looks at a more positive angle and how people themselves have understood, they need to do something.

Text A claims that “calling of fewer fast food outlets and a complete ban on unhealthy food in hospitals” is a solution to stop the situation becoming “unresolvable”. The text also states that the Government, NHS, councils, food firms and parents need to step in, in order to stop obesity. Professor Terence Stephenson claims that the society needs to work together to tackle the situation, in the same way that it tackled smoking.

Text B sounds a lot more positive than text A, despite showing a lot of numbers and facts. Is this text they focus more on what is being done rather that what should be done. This text states that men and women all over the UK are using various methods to losing this extra weight. These methods include slimming clubs and online weight losing programs. Sliming clubs and weight losing programs most often include workout and special food.

In text A there is written “Public opinion needs to be persuaded to turn against unhealthy habits as it did smoking.” – Professor T. Stephenson.

Although I partially agree with this way of solving things. I personally am allergic to the chemicals that cigarettes produce. This means that I don’t smoke and sort of despise people who do. So if I had the power to do anything about the cigarette issue, I’d down right ban the production of it. This might be easy for me to say but there are several people who are addicted to smoking, not to mention the companies that are selling the products. Not only would I be forcing these people to lose an addiction. I would be making loads of people lose their jobs. This means there is close to no real way of making smoking extinct. In the same way people who are obese, let alone the fast food companies and their workers, would not take likely to shutting down their fast food stores. However, turning the public opinion against unhealthy habits sounds like a much better solution. This way fast food companies still exist, so you can still get the odd fast meal or two. People still keep their jobs, not that working in a fast food restaurant is a desirable job. Yet obese people would then need to be persuaded that the easy way out is not fast food. Because as we all know very well most obese people don’t value their looks as much as eating their food. So I say it’s good that he’s found a suitable solution but “The goal is useless without a way to achieve it.” – D. Jacobsen