Argumentative Essay On Obesity

Today, obesity is swooping through the nation at such an alarming rate it could be considered an epidemic. In today’s society, obesity has become a new form of normalcy, it isn 't uncommon to see an individual who looks to be obese regardless of the person’s background or ethnicity. Historically, being heftier and rounded indicated a sort of indication of a status of wealth and good health, so it is important to note that the views upon obesity have shifted dramatically in terms of not just physical appearance, but more importantly health. The definition of obesity given by the dominant approach is a body mass index of over 30. With this approach, it is automatically assumed that if one has a high body mass index, they are of poor health. Though

Through this, the thought of being overweight has been associated with negative thoughts leaving many to endure high social stigma. People who are obese are often seen as lazy and unhealthy which is often untrue. However, people may avoid the risk factors that lead to obesity as a result of not wanting to be shamed by society. On the other hand, that same stigma may lead others to undergo drastic effects like an “increase [in] stress, [a] release of persistent organic pollutants, and risk of osteoporosis” (Bombak 61). To combat the ill effects of the dominant approach, Bombak instead suggests that “physical activity and healthy nutrition among all individuals” should be encouraged. Using this method, everyone of all weight statuses will benefit because healthy habits are being promoted. A con of this method would be that without society’s keen eye of judgment, a person might not care about their weight at all. The health at every weight approach seems like it would be more effective than the dominant approach because it takes into account the different aspects of what makes a person healthy and not just their body mass index. It would also be more cost efficient because there would be fewer people in need of treatment for the negative effects of the individual weight loss methods like eating