Who should be responsible for reducing obesity? How?

Does being obese mean being fat? I don’t think so. Obesity does not stand for being fat; it is a health problem that occurs after an individual gains weight and accumulates excess fat in the body. Being obese has an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and increased health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and breathing difficulties.  Since obesity is a health problem, considerations for reducing the effects of being obese should be taken seriously. But there are still questions such as: who is responsible for people being obese and how can they help to reduce it?

Today, complaints about obesity are directed everywhere. Some believe that the government is responsible, others believe it is the food industries, while some believe it is an individual’s responsibility to take care of his or her health. Personally, I don’t have any one to blame, but I believe all these groups mentioned are responsible in one way or another for allowing obesity to increase and reducing obesity.

Regardless, the way people handle their lives have great impact on their health in general, which can be seen even in the case of obesity. When an individual becomes overweight, it is mainly caused by poor eating habits and lack physical activities. Secondary factors for obesity include medical problems, genetics problems, and physiological problems, such as not being able to digest any food consumed. Individuals can also be overweight by relying on machines and cars that prohibit movements of the body, which prevents burning food consumed. In the article, “Are you responsible for your own weight? Pro” by Radley Balko, the author explains that the problem of obesity is personal and shouldn’t be taken seriously as a public matter.  Balko suggests measures “Give Americans moral, financial, and personal responsibility for their own health, and obesity is no longer a public matter but a private one- with the costs, concerns and worries of being overweight borne only by those who are actually overweight.” In that case Balko discusses the matter more lively as a libertarian who believes that individuals have freedom to choose in life and if they take responsibility for their actions, they will make better decisions.

People should have the right to eat food of their choice without limitations, since eating is a pleasure and expresses a human fundamental health need. If eating is only about fuel for energy without considerations of taste, then people could end up consuming supplements such as vitamin tablets that will not force them to burn excess fat from food. But food is crucial to life and enjoyment, and they should be free to choose what they eat. Thus, it makes individuals responsible for their health and how they work or handle their life styles to maintain good healthy with prevention of fat.

The food industry is always blamed for supplying food that is unhealthy and lead to obesity. A good example is when I once asked a man eating at McDonald’s the reason why many Americans are overweight and he told me that from what he saw in New York people are chubby mainly because of the convenience of cooking or to preparing healthy food, so they end up buying fast food because they are fast, affordable and convenient. He also told me that surveys show that the US has a great number of people who are obese compared to other countries because America is the busiest country and there are many fast food industries that people depend on, although they definitely blame the industries for their obesity. The question is still why these industries are blamed while they are part of a business, and people are not compelled to buy their product? Kelly Brownell and Marion Nestle are professors who specialize in health, discuss the topic obesity as they analyze who is responsible and some measure which can be taken to reduce obesity. In the article “Analyzing a visual: Obesity” by Brownell and Nestle, we learn that food industries spend more money on to their advertisements in comparison to the government’s budget in nutrition-education program. In that case food industries such as McDonald have increased its number of customers worldwide, while its food is not all healthy.

The government is responsible for people’s health since it is created by the people for the people. When government makes laws for the food industry, such as to forcing restaurants to list calories on the menu for consumers to be aware of, it will help reduce the amount of high caloric consumption by people. Nestle suggested that “government should be doing everything it can to create conditions that lead to healthy eating, support parents in raising healthy children, and make decisions in the interests of public health rather than private profit.”  According to Nestle, the government is the last group which is responsible for controlling or reducing obesity and it needs to use power in combating or helping to reduce obesity. A good example of government powers to reduce obesity is found in New York, the state has been one of the first to pass the law requiring restaurants to post calories on their menu, and so far the news has shown improvements in people who buy food in any of the restaurants that shows the number of calories in the food they buy. Children obesity is more serious than adult obesity. It should be taken care of by the government. Children are the future of the society. So, we need to educate them about healthy eating habits and exercise.  Since the government is in control with public school it is easier for it to make sure that those students get healthier food provided by the school.

Therefore, individual and group awareness about healthy life habits will help reduce obesity; only if one and all do their part will the reduction of obesity become possible. When people have healthy bodies, there is also a healthy society.

By: Prof. Dr. Lulu Mero