Introduction:
Imagine if you had to strap on roughly one to two hundred pounds on your body and live with it. It went everywhere you did, school, work, in the shower, even in bed at night. Not only does the extra weight cause you to look different and buy new clothes, but it is such a pain to carry around! It makes it harder to do physical activities, slows you down in life, and makes daily tasks that should be easy much harder. Now what if I told you along with this extra weight, your health will be affected, physically and mentally. The weight will put you at a much higher risk of heart disease, type 2 Diabetes, bone and joint disease (The Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity 1). The sad truth about this scenario, is that it affects many Americans. Obesity is a huge problem in America today and needs to be fixed!
History:
When it comes to the history of obesity it is kind of tricky. Obesity is not a new thing, it has always existed, but it recently become a lot more common. Since the beginning of time people have been able to become obese, as it is just becoming over weight. But it was much less common because food used to be harder to find, and until recent times portion sizes of meals were always much smaller. Obviously we know that before we developed as people it was harder to find food, but many people may not know the changes in food within just the last fifty years. In a comparison of the average Americans diet in 1970 and in 2010 our consumption of Grain based products, and oils and fats almost doubled! (Desilver 1). With the only Two food products we consumed more of in 1970 rather 2010 were vegetables and eggs! (Desilver 1). Along with what we ate now and then, there is also a big difference in how much we eat. Portion sizes and the number of obese Americans were a lot smaller at this time as well. In 1955 a McDonalds hamburger had a weight of 3.7 ounces, compared to now where it is up to 9.2 ounces! (Hill 1). This applies not only to the food, but the sugary sodas as well, where the size in 1955 was only seven ounces, and it can now be thirty ounces. (Hill 1).
The last difference between food now and years ago is when we eat it. This may sound strange but a big part of our bodies way of digesting food, and how it handles it is having a consistent schedule. (Petty 1). Due to peoples fast pace of life in the twenty-first century, we settle for much less healthier fast food options, at inconsistent times of day. So the strict breakfast, lunch, and dinner schedule has sort of disappeared. I share these facts about how food has changed over the years, because peoples diet is the biggest factor when it comes to obesity. That fact is heavily backed up by the direct correlation of the number of people who were obese at those times compared to now. Since the 1950’s to 2012 the percentage has rose from only ten percent to thirty-five percent of Americans being obese! (police 1) so when it comes to the “history” of obesity, it is effecting more people right now than ever before.
Social Effects
The biggest social effects that obesity has today is just the sheer numbers. Considering Obesity is effecting roughly thirty-five percent of adult Americans, that means almost everyone at least knows someone who is obese. Another way Obesity effects people is that it makes daily tasks much harder than they should be. Some examples may be going up and down stairs or getting in and out of a car. These things may not seem very hard but with a lot of extra weight, they are not easy. Aside from completing daily tasks the most drastic effect of obesity is on peoples health! People who are obese are not healthy and are at a much higher risk of type 2 diabetes, and heart disease (The Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity 1). This is why diabetes is such a problem, Obesity affects people in ways that can actually cost them their life. A good reason why obesity needs to be talked about more, because it can cause so many health issues but, in most cases is completely preventable!
Another effect obesity has on people is nothing physical. Obesity will cause many mental issues to people because they are ashamed of their body. This can actually have a negative effect in trying to fix the problem, because it may cause some people not want to go out in public, or go to the gym because they are afraid of what people will think of them. In a study of the relations of obesity and depression it was shown that people who were depressed were more likely to be obese than people who were not depressed (Brody 1). This is a very important statistic because it shows that there is a good chance that obesity can cause depression, but also that depression may be a key factor in causing obesity!
Examples
A good example of Obesity and what it can do to peoples life is the television show “my 600 Pound Life” the show shows extreme cases of people being tremendously overweight and the troubles that it brings with it (Swan 1). Although these are the most extreme cases they still do a very good job of showing how it makes normal things much harder than they should be and how unhealthy being obese will make you. Because all of the people on the show have health problems that are usually life threatening it will open your eyes on how dangerous obesity really is. The show also does a good job, because it usually explains how the people got to the state of obesity that they are in, whether that is from deep states of depression, eating disorders or other reasons.
Obesity is also an epidemic that is very easy to find an example of because of the number of people it affects. Almost everyone knows someone who is obese, it is a condition that you can’t hide so if you know someone who is obese you know it, unlike a disease that may go un-detected. Furthermore if everyone has their own example of a case of obesity they will be able to relate to it much more.
Solutions
When it comes to solutions for obesity the answer is simple but not easy. Everyone knows the key to losing weight is eating right and exercising. But if people have let themselves get obese, then obviously this “easy” solution may not be so easy.
Considering eating bad is only part of the obesity problem, maybe just food solutions won’t fix it. Since mental health is such a large problem in the topic of obesity, perhaps trying to fix that part of the problem may be an overlooked solution. Counseling could be the biggest step forward to ending obesity. Not only could it help obesity but it could help many other problems we are having in our society today because having someone else there always makes things easier. People who struggle with obesity like many others may hesitate about the thought of counseling but it could be very beneficial to have someone who they get close to and trust. The councilor would know the steps the patient would need to take to lose weight, but also be there to help with the mental side of things, answering any questions the person may have and giving them advice on how to overcome the struggle they are going through. Having someone besides yourself that knows your goal, and constantly checking in with them increases your chances of reaching that goal dramatically (Thomas 1).
Camus
Albert Camus the author of “The Plague” has a very different outlook on problems, but more importantly on life in general. In summary, Camus doesn’t really see a point in life, he thinks that there is no real end result so there is almost no point to life itself. If Camus had to give an opinion on obesity, he would see it as no problem at all. Camus would think that whether you are obese or you are as fit as can be, you will still die in the end. With the end result being the same and having no point, Albert Camus would say whether you were obese or not, would not matter. Camus would also bring up his point about acceptance, for this was one of his biggest points of his theory of our everyday being absurd. He may say that if you are obese you should just accept that, and move on in your life because there is no point to change it. And he may also say if being obese is what makes you happy you should do it because life is short and there is nothing after it, so you might as well enjoy your pointless life while you have it.
Conclusion
In conclusion Obesity is a wildfire of an epidemic that is affecting more people today than it ever has before. It is not going un-noticed, but is slowly starting to be accepted. It is time we stand as a society and put an end to this simple yet intensifying problem. Plenty of studies have been done on what causes it, and more are coming out on how to fix it. But studies are no good unless we actually take action and start helping people before it’s too late.
Works Cited
Brody, J. “National Center for Health Statistics.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Oct. 2014, www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db167.htm.
“Healthy Weight.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 June 2015, www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/effects/index.html.
Hill, Sienna. “A Look at How McDonald's Portion Sizes Have Grown From 1955 to Today.” First We Feast, First We Feast, 20 Oct. 2016, firstwefeast.com/drink/2015/09/mcdonalds-portion-size-change-1955-to-now.
Oppong, Thomas. “This Is How to Increase The Odds of Reaching Your Goals by 95%.” Medium, The Mission, 16 Jan. 2017, medium.com/the-mission/the-accountability-effect-a-simple-way-to-achieve-your-goals-and-boost-your-performance-8a07c76ef53a.
Petty, Louise. “Comparing Diets With Your Grandparents'.” High Speed Training Hub, 17 Aug. 2017, www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/changes-in-eating-habits/.
Police, Sara. “How Much Have Obesity Rates Risen Since 1950?”LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 18 July 2017, www.livestrong.com/article/384722-how-much-have-obesity-rates-risen-since-1950/.
Pratt LA, Brody DJ. Depression and obesity in the U.S. adult household population, 2005–2010. NCHS data brief, no 167. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2014.
Swan, Lisa. “The Untold Truth of My 600-Lb Life.” TheList.com, The List, 23 Jan. 2018, www.thelist.com/58296/untold-truth-600-lb-life/.
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