For most people, the phrase , “you are what you eat”, rings more than just a few bells. In a growing visually appeasing society it may come as a surprise however that most Americans are overweight and that poor diet/obesity is a leading cause of death in our country. There are many ways that Americans try and attack this problem, the most common being dieting and exercise. Yet with all the money spent yearly on diet programs and personalized fitness regimens, Americans still top off the list in percentage of adults that are overweight. As of 2010, more than one third of all Americans were overweight and that number continues to climb at an alarming rate. In 2012 , there was an estimated twenty billion dollars in revenue for any and all diet books, diet drugs, and surgeries (1). Capitalism has a say so clearly, one aspect of the money is pushing the mentally weak toward fatty foods, the other form is racking in twenty billion on improper self discipline and fitness fads of those trying to be the opposite. Even with the increasing numbers of diets and obesity prevention programs, American obesity remains an instable issue. In our society obesity has become a primary link to heart diseases and other preventable lifestyle illnesses that can lead to early death. Why is our society overweight, and why is it our attempts to correct the issue have yet to yield positive results? Without the proper understanding that obesity is a social disease, our society will continue to seek quick fixes for obesity and never address the ongoing issue at it's core. Obesity is a social disease. Like the phrase, “you are what you eat”, it is common to hear “show me who your friends are and I will show you who you are”. Meaning, the people ... ... middle of paper ... ...ry by the Numbers, retrieved April 20th2014. Website: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/100-million-dieters-20-billion-weight-loss-industry/story?id=16297197 (2) Monte, Liz . Portion-size-then-vs-now. Retrieved April 20th, 2014. Website: (http://www.medicaldaily.com/obesity-social-disease-how-fate-your-diet-often-other-peoples-hands-265967) (3) Trust for Americas Health. ( 2013, August). Retreieved April 20th 2014. Website: http://healthyamericans.org/report/108/ (4) Jane-Schneider, Mary. Introduction to Public Health Third Edition (Chapter 16). Sudbury, MA; Jones and Bartlett, 2011. Print (5) Weller, Chris. Is Obesity A Social Disease? How The Fate Of Your Diet Is Often In Other People痴 Hands. (2013,December 30th) Retrieved April 20th 2014. Website: http://www.medicaldaily.com/obesity-social-disease-how-fate-your-diet-often-other-peoples-hands-265967
Mary Louise Fleming, E. P. (2009). Introduction to Public Health. Chatswood, NSW, Australia: Elsevier Australia.
This chapter gives various social and biological reasons for the growing world-wide health concern of obesity. Name them and views - why is the reality of weight for most people so far from the cultural or societal ideal?
Obesity is a serious epidemic that majority of Americans face. The dangerous of obesity should not be taken lightly and addressed admittedly. However, the big question is how or why do some individuals stay skinny or become fat. The movie Weight of The Nations, Part 2: choice helps us explore this unanswered question to give us a better understanding of how this problem has gotten so out of control. This movie targets the obese society in America. This documentary uses scientist to research and address techniques to help people prevent weight gain and loss unhealthy weight. Most Americans want quick fixes to this problem, but have to realize big changes take time, but offer big results. Over all, the idea is to get people motivated by positive results to live a healthier live style.
In the American culture, obesity is seen as a bodily abnormality and deviance that should be corrected. Obesity has indeed become one of the most stigmatizing bodily characteristics in our culture (Brink, 1994). In the Western culture, thinness does not just mean the size of the body, but it is associated with such qualities as being healthy, attractive and in control. In contrast, a fat body is viewed as a sign of poor health, inefficiency and lack of personal will (e.g. Kissling, 1991; Ogden, 1992; Cooper, 1998). Resent research has shown that the social stigma associated with obesity can have serious consequences for an obese individual via discrimination in central fields of life such as education, health care, and employment. In relation to gender, the stigma associated with been obese is not the same for men and women. Research has clearly shown that obesity is more stigmatizing for women and obese women are discriminated against more than men because of their weight (Puhl & Brownell, 2001).
Interest in the social aspects of obesity is nothing new. Jeffrey Sobal has written extensively about the social and psychological consequences of obesity , including the stigmatisation and discrimination of obese and even overweight individuals (Sobal 2004).
In order to take a sociological viewpoint into account when one examines obesity, first it is important to understand how obesity is recognized in current society. According to today’s news articles and magazines and advertisements and other mass media about health and healthy life, one can easily realize that a great number of people have an eagerness to be healthy. Also, one can assume through these mass media about health that everyone wants to be attractive, and they are even prone to transform their own behaviors to gain attractiveness. This is because most people live a life where social interaction is frequently required and must engage themselves into social interaction every day of their life. Therefore, based on these ideas and proofs throughout this mass media, obesity is regarded as one of the characteristics that is disgraceful and undesirable in society.
Overweight and obesity problem is becoming more and more serious in Australia. Not only Australians but also the world’s problem obesity is studied as one of the main causes of chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and some cancers and sleep apnoea as well as other serious conditions, which put national economies and individual lives at risk. Obesity is also regarded as epidemic. Obesity is caused by a calorific imbalance between diet intake and consumed calories. Obesity has become the biggest threat to Public Health in Australia shown by Australia Bureau of Statistics (2013). Also, the prevalence of obesity is predicted as the ratio of obesity in adults and children will be doubled by 2025 (Backholer et al.2012). It is believed that this phenomenon is happening due to many social determinants of health, which have a strong negative impact on not only individuals but also society and economy. (Wilkinson and Marmot 2003) The social determinants of health are explained as conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age by WHO (Wilkinson & Marmot 2013). Different circumstances can be formed depending on their finance, power and global resources. These social determinants seem to be responsible for health inequities, which seem to be unfair and avoidable. Social determinants of health including social gradient, high calorie food intake, excessive amounts of stress and poor early life care are the relevant factors to contribute to be or being obesity. It is important to understand that the correlation of social determinants of health and obesity to manage the health problems and enhance public’s health.
About 2.8 billion adults every year die of obesity (Diet). Rachel Epstein wrote the book “Eating Habits and Disorders” which talks about obesity being a disease. Obesity is a condition with extra body fat which often starts to form in childhood (Epstein 25). While obesity for some adults can be life-threatening (Epstein 25). It can also form psychosocial problems (Epstein 25). Being obese causes a risk in diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, kidney trouble and more (Epstein 25). Being obese during pregnancy can cause many problems for the mom, and for the baby (Epstein 25). Any of these things could cause many problems either in the future, or in the present (Epstein 25). The worse the eating habits, the harder it is to cure (Epstein 25). The government needs to do more about obesity because obesity rates are rising, many kids are being victims of obesity and they don’t even know it, also Medical Care is taking a big part with the growing obesity rates.
Obesity has increasingly become a significant public health concern in the United States. In the past four decades, the numbers of overweight children, adolescents, and adults has shot to high margins, and the rise cut cross all ages, races, and ethnicities for both males and females. A recent analysis by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that 30% of the American adult aged over the ages of twenty, which is a representation of over 60 million adults, was obese. Still the same survey indicated 16% of those between the ages of 16years and 19 years, which is over 9 million children and teenagers, were obese. This has come with its share of repe...
Obesity and overweight remain the two major social problems in the United States. Apart from the fact that obesity and overweight are dangerous by themselves, they also cause a variety of negative health consequences. Our lives our overloaded with tasks and obligations, and we often choose to eat something fast. “Fast”, however, does not necessarily imply “useful”, and more and more people face the risks of becoming obese even at young age. Because obesity has already become a national i...
Over the years obesity rates have risen to alarming rates. For decades health professionals have treated the symptoms with medications and procedures but no one has addressed why our country is in the middle of an obesity epidemic. In the past, I have viewed obese people as lazy more recently I have even come to believe that are genetics or thyroid issues have been to blame. However, if we could find the source of the problem we could end obesity. The goal of this essay is to determine who is to blame for the obesity in America, and by looking at food companies marketing, overindulging, and additives we will discover the root problem of obesity.
...ournal articles support the thesis that Obesity is more than an individual’s problems and it affects more than their personal surroundings. It however affects nations economically, began the phenomena of “Globesity” and has been influenced by the body conscious era of time in which we live in. These are ties which we have woven
People with obesity are at risk of having critical diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties –for example asthma and sleep apnea-, joint problems, and musculoskeletal discomfort ("Childhood Obesity Causes & Consequences"). This suggests that being diagnosed with obesity negatively affects a person’s health. Also, human beings who are overweight are linked to having psychological problems such as mood disorders and personality disorders ("Childhood Obesity Causes & Consequences"). Moreover, women, men and children are more prone to having social problems such as bullying and humiliation ("Childhood Obesity Causes & Consequences"). This shows that many people judge individuals who don’t look similar to their body shapes. Altogether, there are many things that could affect human bodies, but with obesity, those issues could
Obesity is a result of a poor diet and lack of exercise. With a steady supply of cheap and unhealthy food readily available to Americans, it’s easy to understand why we’ve become a chronically obese nation. As a remedy, Americans spend thirty five billion dollars every year on snake-oil miracle cures, fat-melting diet pills, and prescription medications to control their weight and the ill side effects of obesity (Diet). If a fraction of the c...
The United States is one of the most obese countries in the world. This shows us that many people look towards food to fill voids, to de-stress themselves, for convenience, and for various other reasons. This also shows that countless Americans do not try to stop their bad habits until it is too late. This highlights that many of them have the mentality of “it won’t happen to me”. When they do develop a disease, or become obese they wish they would’ve done something about it. This also brings up the issue of many generations acting and thinking this way due to their parents’ lack of knowledge and understanding. This causes their children to grow up thinking and acting the same way towards food and potentially walking the same path as their parents did with food. Obesity has become a growing infection plaguing the world and its children. A simple forty-five-minute exercise everyday can reduce the risk of heart disease, a disease in which I struggle with daily and has become a never ending battle. If American’s would make eating properly and exercising regularly a priority, their lives would be