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Recommended: Problems of obesity
You Are Fat
“Who’s fat?” You may be thinking to yourself. Before you start to hunt me down with dinner forks for insulting you, take a second to hear my argument. While any rational person would agree with me that being obese or over weight is unhealthy, I feel many people still don’t know how harmful fat acceptance really is.
Being fat is not okay. Sixty-three percent of adults are obese. A hefty contribution to this high number is the increasing acceptance and glorification of being fat. “Just let them be; it’s their human right” While it may be a human right to do so doesn’t mean it is good. It doesn’t just affect those who are overweight; it affects everyone.
Being obese or over weight increases a person’s risk of many diseases that cost Australian taxpayers billions of dollars annually. These may be insane consequences but they
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Social justice groups, celebrities and media have been promoting such behavior as a social norm and hide the consequences that come with an unhealthy lifestyle.
Bad for the Economy
Adding to this is the wide acceptance of being fat, this is fuelling an obesity crisis as more than half of Australian adults are obese. Such unhealthy behavior is causing more deaths and weight related illnesses more than ever before. Such illnesses can include “heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis and asthma”. The list goes on. Telling people to accept being fat, you’re concisely telling them to accept all these things too
But it does affect all of us. Each year Australian taxpayers pay $56.6 billion in health funds for the obese and overweight. This is killing our economy, as this sum could contribute to making Australia a better place. $56.6 billion dollars could be used for scientific advancements; or just fix our roads…Or on the other hand Australians could be paying lower tax in general.
Mental Health
The article “Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance” is written by Mary Ray Worley, a member of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. She writes of her firsthand experience as a “fat person” in society. Throughout the article, Worley explains what it is like to be obese and describes the way society treats those who have a weight problem. She attacks the idea of dieting, criticizes medical professionals for displaying an obscured view of health risks, and defends the idea of exercising to feel good rather than exercising to lose weight. Unfortunately, her article seems to reflect only own opinions and emotions rather than actual facts and statistics.
“Fat Acceptance”: An Argument Lacking Validity Cynara Geisslers’ essay “Fat Acceptance: A Basic Primer,” was published in Geez Magazine in 2010. The focus of the essay is to refute the pressure of society to be thin and promote self-acceptance regardless of size. While this essay touches on many agreeable points, it tends to blow many ideas out of context in an attempt to create a stronger argument. The article takes on a one-sided argument without any appropriate acknowledgement of the opposition, overlooks the risks of ignoring personal health, and has a strong feminist ideology associated towards the essay which tends to make the validity of her argument questionable.
In the year 2010, the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead was released. In the film, Australian native Joe Cross has realized that his health is worsening very fast. So Cross finally decides that he will turn his life around by taking an extreme diet that will deprive him of macronutrients for 60 days. Macronutrients are nutrients found in foods other than fruits and vegetables. Micronutrients are those nutrients found in fruits and vegetables. Micronutrients provide minerals such as Vitamin A, Iodine, Iron, Folate, and Zinc. While the body does not need these in large amounts, they are essential to the body because they help develop disease prevention and promote well-being. Micronutrients are important to include
We can stop this by making ads for overeating, and portion distortion. Most overweight Australians know that they’re overweight, and they do want to get healthier, they just could not be bothered exercising. That’s why all those weight loss milkshake ads work – they appeal to their desire to be healthier. If the government created ads like that, along with smoking ad-style ads and better education websites, it would work.
It is natural for a society to be concerned for the future generations. With the rate of obesity growing in adults and children, many begin to see it as an issue that needs to be addressed. New reports show “ childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years” (cdc.gov). Overweight and obese are not actually the same. Overweight is defined as “having excess body weight for a particular height from fat,” and obesity is defined as “having excess body fat” (cdc.gov). With obesity comes the chance for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Both can be
Healthcare costs Canada upwards of 192 billion dollars per year(Flood). A fraction of that is a direct result of obesity, but the majority of healthcare costs are from non-preventable sources, whereas obesity is preventable and should not cost the taxpayers a single dollar to treat: “Obesity costs Canadians between $4.6 billion and $7.1 billion annually in healthcare and lost productivity”(Ogilvie). So not only does obesity cost actual currency, but it also lowers individual job productivity and employment rate(Ogilvie). Individuals that suffer from obesity are much more likely to become sick and are generally less efficient on the job than a healthy individual. And it is not only the individuals that suffer from the lost productivity, as the poor performance affects the overall efficiency of the Canadian workforce. An easily preventable chronic illness is sucking billions of dollars from other areas that would greatly benefit from funding; the implemented counteractive systems to prevent obesity would literally pay for
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.
Satire Local Anorexic Still Way Too Fat? Staten Island, New York- Despite years of intense dieting and vigorous exercise, local anorexic Lucy Fernandez is still excessively fat. Reported Monday to the Staten Island Advance, Fernandez, who stands five feet and weighs approximately ninety pounds, is still overweight and needs to lose a few pounds. “I cannot believe how gross I look,” said the obese Fernandez, examining herself in a full-length bathroom mirror.
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.
Obesity is an epidemic in America. Fast food can be compared to the same type of mindless addiction as cigarettes, and can be equally as dangerous. Not only is there a problem with fast food restaurants, but the food industry as a whole. Slaughterhouses that control 80% of the market produce meat in such a way that is not healthy for consumption, in turn the products are doused in harmful chemicals and still served to the public. No wonder the obesity rate in America is 69% and rising. Obesity is a true problem in our country- people are neglecting their health and quite literally eating themselves to death.
In the UK as well as in other developed countries, obesity is becoming a growing problem this puts pressure on health services and affects individuals’ ability to work, and contribute to the economy. The government feels the pressure to act by taxing unhealthy foods and drinks, and by setting up educational campaigns, (Stephen Adams, 2011).
Brody, Jane E. “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause.” New York Times. 12 September 2011. Print.
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...
Many folks who become obese are people who abuse the calories their body needs on a daily diet. As stated in “Overweight and Obesity Statistics”, everyone body needs a certain amount of energy from foods to have a proper balance. If the calories you have eaten sum up to the amount of calories you have used or have not burnt, you will start to have a problem if this eating habit continues. You will now be in the stage of overweight, if you do not burn the extra calories you consumer. In March 2004 the CDC publishes a study showing that poor eating habits and lack of exercise were the second leading death in the Untied States (“Chronology”). For example, one major reason why people become obese in America is because the environment is full of fast food restaurants. If you look to your left you will see McDonald’s, you look to your right, and you see Jack in The Box, you look behind you and there is Carl’s Jr, and if you look in front of you and you see a Burger King. According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, “17% of children and adolescents (aged 2-19) are obese. The prevalence of obesity in America has risen dramatically over the past two decades and continues to increase” (qtd. “Weight Control and Diet”). You see these places all over the place and not to mention food advertising is a big cause for obesity. According to What Causes Overweight
Fatty and Sugary Foods This group includes spreading fats (such as butter), cooking oils, sugar, biscuits, cakes, crisps, sweets, chocolate, cream and ice-cream and sugary drinks. These foods shouldn't be eaten too often; when they are, they should only be consumed in small amounts. They're loaded in calories, fat and sugar, but don't contain many vitamins and minerals.