On a recent road trip to New York, we passed a billboard that
read, "Child obesity is not a decision, it is a disease." This
sentence shocked me. It is a perfect example of how our society doesn't take
responsibility for anything anymore. We are always blaming our problems on
other people, things or even disorders. I do agree that genetics might play
some role in childhood obesity, but I think that diet and lifestyles are a much
larger factor regarding this condition.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, "Over the
past three decades, childhood obesity rates have tripled in the U.S., and
today, the country has some of the highest obesity rates in the world: one out
of six children is obese,". (read complete article here) Personally, I find it hard to believe that
obesity is a disease if Americans are primarily the ones "catching
it". The American diet coupled with the lack of exercise has dramatically
changed in the last decades, and because of this I think that childhood obesity
rates have skyrocketed. Nowadays, due to both parents working or parents not
knowing how to cook, many people eat the majority of their meals at
restaurants. In addition, many Americans just don't eat very healthy.
The article also talks about the direct correlation between
wealth and weight worldwide. When there is an abundance of money and moreover
food, people tend to eat it. I do not understand how obesity could be
considered a disease if people simply don't have the discipline to stop giving
their kids so much food. I believe that we will only see an end to childhood
obesity when Americans choose to make a healthy lifestyle and diet a priority
in their homes.
1 comment:
The "decision" vs. "disease" distinction is a very interesting point. I've heard a similar distinction made in the case of gun violence—instead of taking each instance of violence in isolation, as one person's decision to commit an act of violence, we can attempt a larger perspective: what conditions lead to violence? How can those conditions be changed?
Similarly, I think the "disease" perspective might be useful in the case of obesity. I think that your emphasis on personal responsibility is laudable—you're absolutely right that each of us should try to make the best choices that we can—but I think the "disease" perspective shows us that there are different choices available to different people. For example, healthy food is more expensive, harder to find, and more time-consuming to prepare, so a household in which all of the adults work for relatively little money might not be able to make the healthy choice; you might argue that we've made healthy choices into a luxury. I think you're 100% right that it's important to make diet and lifestyle a priority if you aim to raise healthy children; I worry that many Americans who DO make that a priority don't have the resources to carry it out.
Post a Comment