Obesity: A Health crisis or a moral one?

I am not a health professional but I agree with most of it, I wouldn

 

I think being significantly overweight and obesity are a problem, but I agree with the author that it's not as huge of a threat as we make it.

The fact of the matter remains however that people are heavier and more people are gaining more weight faster than have previous generations of people. This is a health concern. Being significantly overweight or even obese is unhealthy. It puts undo stress on the immune system, cardiovascular system, and skeletal system just to name a few.

With that being said, making everyone thin (which is probably impossible) wouldn't solve the problem. Dramatic weightloss is dangerous, no matter how much a person weighs. Weight loss should be done gradually, and through fitness and healthier eating choices, not diets.

People have to realize not everyone is made to weigh the same. We are genetically different and there will be frail and skinny people and big and somewhat heavy people who both are healthy. Not every fat person is unhealthy and not every skinny person is physically fit. There are a number of factors that determine our "natural" weight including heredity, genetics, and metabolism.

Dieting (as in eating less, not eating healthier) is usually followed by binging and weight gain. A lot of diets fail in the long run and can actually be very unhealthy. A "diet" for one 300lbs person could be completely wrong for another 300lbs person. Dieting doesn't change genetics or metabolism.

If people made healthier eating choices, exercised moderately, and realized that some people are naturally larger than others and are still healthy, the whole obesity craze might be over.

 

I agree, and agree with the kerouac quote too...

 

The BMI is complete bullshit right off the bat, it was never intended to be used for what it currently is.
So, yeah.

 

What about diabetes, heart disease, etc? How can being obese not be unhealthy?

 

Yeah, this is what I was thinking too on top of my post.

Being overweight/obese can be dangerous and decremental to a person's health (but by no means does this apply to everyone, people are naturally all different sizes).

 

Absolutely agree. Fat "prejudice" also does a number on the significantly overweight too. It is possible to be fat and fit, and it is possible to be thin and sick. I can't remember if I saw it on Dateline or another news show, but several years ago they featured a marathon runner who would be considered "obese" to "morbidly obese" but this fellow was 100% healthy. He ate healthy foods, trained well, and ran every day. But he had to be nearly 280. But his doctor did every test and he didn't have high cholesterol or any hint of heart disease.

The truth is, health can only be measured by the individual. Are you physically healthy? Are you active enough to do everything you want and need to do? If yes, then the scale doesn't really matter. Sumo wrestlers are morbidly obese, but they're extremely healthy folks. But when they *stop* training, they can sometimes run into many weight related issues.

Determining fitness based on appearance is prejudicial. But judging based on lifestyle makes more sense. There has to be a balance in everything we do, whether thin or fat. Everyone needs a healthy balance of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, and limiting processed foods is really the healthiest option for everyone, regardless of size or shape. But to really know how healthy you should be, it's best to visit a doctor regularly and visit with a nutritionist to know what's best for your own body. We're all different, and it would stand to reason that we all have different health needs.

I actually had started a thread similar to this a bit ago - with a different question. But I was looking for a similar discussion.

 

Obesity is a health crisis; but it is not the only one, nor is it limited to a crisis of health. Obesity is as much a social problem as it is with health: how many fast food restaurants do you pass by when you drive to work (or anywhere else for that matter)? Bringing children up with the garbage that they serve instead of proportioned, healthy meals is one of the problems. Another is the selection of food by both children/parents. While genetics may play a role in obesity, I think that the majority of the obese population is not there because of only genetics. It has a great deal to do with choices and personal responsibility.

You could look at obesity as a moral choice, but there are limits to it. What if someone is obese because of their genetics? Aren't you discriminating against someone for a reason that they cannot help? I do think that it is morally wrong though if there are a few people who are being well fed while the rest of the country is literally starving. To a much lesser extent, I think that it is also wrong to not take care of your body (such as by eating too much). But that is a personal belief; as long as the person isn't wasting food (by eating two bites of everything and throwing the rest away), then I personally wouldn't say anything. It's their choice.

It may sound odd, but the situations surrounding what is perceived as excess is more important to me than the excess itself (in most cases).

 

Agreed, Azure_Knight.

Something else to consider: Although it's not quite been proven, I think there's a link between extreme obesity and poorer states in the United States. When you're poor, you discover that processed foods are cheaper than real (whole) foods. It's cheaper to buy a month's worth of macaroni and processed cheese food and butter and milk and cheap cereal than it is to buy fruits, veggies, whole grains, organic meats, fish, and olive oil. I really do think there's a direct correlation between obesity and poverty in the United States.

Now, for the middle and upper class, I think other reasons may also come into play. But there are no simple answers.

There are many reasons for obesity, and the answers might not be as simple for an individual as "diet and exercise." I've seen many obese people try and fail diets multiple times - and their defeat is not for lack of trying or laziness, I can tell you that much.

 

I absolutely agree.

Add to that another thing: You don't need to kill yourself to be healthy. Walking thirty minutes a day or twenty a day can add to one's overall health.
It's actually dangerous to have people over exert themselves too quickly. Dangerous, and a little pointless. If exercise is too painful, you're not going to continue it. Why not start out with yoga and healthy walking and stretching exercises, and then when you get a bit more energy try increasing the exercise regimen, if it's something you're shooting for. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither were Romanesque bodies.

 

While I agree that body shapes confound the problem of defining obesity, I still think obesity is a growing problem in this country. Just because a person is fat does not mean they are less healthy than the general population, but the probability is that they are. Simply taking a walk through the local grocery store tells me how bad the problem of obesity is getting in this country. I'm by no means innocent as I'm in perhaps the worst physical shape of my life at present but I do think people have an individual duty to look out for their own well being and health.

 

I don't think anyone's arguing against taking care of oneself, Satya, but the answer might not be as easy as "eat that, don't eat that, do this exercise, don't do that exercise." Everyone seems to have an idea of what "health" is, and everyone seems to have an answer...but if the same answer worked for every person, we wouldn't have obesity in this country. Some studies suggest that merely dieting can cause obesity (site third party, Slate Magazine, July 4, 2007), and when people were followed for an extended period of time after a significant weight loss, it was found that an overwhelmingly large percentage (95% or more) gained all their weight back, and then some. Diet and exercise are part of the solution, yes. But I think what needs to change is the approach itself.

What if we told folks that nothing is forbidden, as long as they added fruits and vegetables and whole foods into their diets? What if they were told that they could choose any exercise they wanted, and that it was a choice - and that if they skipped a day it was okay to do so? What if they had the freedom to own their bodies? What if they were told it's okay to be the person you are now, and you'll still be the person inside whether they're fat or thin?

What if thinking changed? What if they loved themselves enough to treat their bodies with respect now, and not their future selves?

Obesity, in my opinion, is more of a mind issue than a body issue. We self-sabotage because we think we're unworthy fat and we'll only be worthy thin. So if we're worthless now, we're going to treat ourselves as worthless and continually have a bad self-image. And it doesn't help when society continually tells us that we're "bad" or "lazy" or (god forbid) "American" if we don't lose weight.

This is what needs to happen in the United States for weight loss to be successful.

1. Americans need to stop being schizophrenic. We adhere to the Adonis ideal, but we have a MacDonalds on every corner. What's up with that? Let's kill the Ideal American Figure and see each other as ordinary. And then lets bulldoze or destroy one fast food chain for every ten miles of city (and replace it with a health food store!)

2. Exercise needs to be seen as a pleasure, not a punishment. We don't need to jog to be healthy, we can walk. We can do yoga. We can even meditate to keep our stress levels down.

3. Food needs to be viewed as food, not as a reward or a punishment.

4. Organic and whole, "real" foods need to be the same prices as processed junk, and processed junk should be taxed like cigarettes and booze.

5. Reward companies for making healthier food distribution choices (tax breaks, etc)

6. Clean up the environment so the foods we *Do* consume from the land have the most nutrients possible.

7. Start by making little changes, every day, with food choices and exercise choices. Make strides to enjoy who you are. Don't punish yourself because you're not someone else.

And so on, and so forth.

I could go on and on about this, but I'm going to stop now. All I'm saying is, it's not an easy answer. There are several key factors, and it's all intertwined with so many, many things. I know I was healthier in England because I walked everywhere, and because the food (at the time) had far fewer additives than American food has.

The American lifestyle is conducive to weight gain. Ask anyone who comes here from another country. But is it food quality, exercises quantity, genetics, or a combo of factors? That's the question we have to ask ourselves individually.