Who is to blame for obesity?

Question

I need to know this answer for a school project. i need an opinion from everyone. so tell me your views

Answer 1

It's not a who. It's a "YOU" in most cases. The problem with obesity boils down to poor lifestyle choices.

That's it in a nutshell. YOU are responsible for YOUR LIFE and the choices you make are yours alone. You choose to eat a supersized MickyD meal or you choose to eat a fresh salad with low fat dressing for dinner.

YOU CHOOSE to veg in front of your video game all afternoon when you get home from school or you choose to
go riding on your bike for exercise.

You choose to become obese by the lifestyle choices you make.

Answer 2

I'm a personal trainer and I can tell you the answer is simple. The level of activity for most people is way, way below the level they need, to burn off the calories they are shoving in their mouths.

It sounds simple and it is, but is not always an "easy" solution. Some people who fall into the habit of eating more than they burn up find it extremely difficult to change their poor habits. This is made worse by the fact that standard portion sizes are now much bigger than they were 20 years ago and many foods are laced with sugar and fat. (There's a good article in last Saturday's Times about portion sizes - Body and Soul part I think).

But the bottom line is, if people simply walked to and from school or work, walked to lunch or the shop, kicked a football around in the afternoons, found a hobby that required activity, played some organised sport, walked to the park or a cafe for lunch and gave up just half of the take away meals they eat each week, this nation would be looking a lot different - much smaller than it is! Just 30 mins of activity a day would make all the difference.

Don't blame the government, the manufacturers, the council, poverty or computers, it's the people themselves who are responsible for their own levels of activity. The trick is to find an activity you like doing and "Just Do It". If you are poor, then remember walking, skipping, dancing and running are free - no excuses.

If you want to get a good picture of the current state of the nation go to the reference I put below.

Good luck with your project and I hope you play some sport or go for a few walks this week!

Answer 3

Hi, I feel I am a little qualified to answer this as I was one of those "fat, lazy etc" people who had to resort to a gastric bypass to lose weight. I have never liked junk food, I have been veggie for 17 years, went to the gym - even at 18st. I lost 10st, 6 stone and 5 stone in various diets and regained everything and more. It isn't any one thing for everyone that makes us obese. For some it can be "junk" food and sloth, for others it can be influenced to some extent by background hormones in meat, dairy and, these days, water. I do feel for some of the youngsters today it's because they aren't given a wide variety of foods from a young age and then stick to those foods they know, high fat and sugar.
I doubt many people on here are qualified to talk nutrition but the Patrick Holford site is mainly free and a good place to start. As for parents, mine were both under 5' 5" and stick thin. I came along, was normal for the first 6 years, got Scarlet Fever, then a kidney disorder and ended up as wide as I was high. I'm 53 now and am a "normal" weight but my calorie intake is around 1000 per day - less than normal for maintenance.
Whatever you find out just try not to be judgemental, fat or thin people are all different and need to be respected and helped where possible. Education should be there if needed. Condemnation doesn't help people to lose weight, help does.
Linda

Answer 4

Having spent the last half hour reading the above answers, I am appalled at the levels of ignorance and the 'blame the victim' culture.
Yes, there are many folk who eat too much and eat the wrong types of food.
Yes, there many who choose unhealthy lifestyles , eating in fast food places and not exercising, smoking, drinking and taking drugs.
There are lots of reasons for them doing this, and you cannot and should not tarnish everyone with the same brush.
Not all overweight people get fat through the above causes. Not all overweight people eat hoards of food. Many overweight people eat very sensibly.
But it is easier to take a 'holier than thou attitude' and blame the victims. It's always nicer to blame someone else, and anyway, that's what the medical profession say.

Well if you took the time to actually read around the problems you'd find other reasons. The medical profession is very good at fobbing off people and worst of all, not listening to what people tell them. That is why many of the research statistics are worse than useless and very misleading. Take migraines, for instance. Until very recently, a female going to see a GP about a migraine that happened once a month before or during her period was told that that was nonense. Even though women were complaining about it all over the world, the medical profession saw only what it wanted. Now, suddenly, migraines caused by hormones are recognised.

It is the same with obesity. Many many people have medical problems which cause sudden onset of weight, and do not respond to diet, but get no help or support from the medical professions, who just stick their heads in the sand and say , you must be lying.

Reading this back, I realise I am coming across as angry, but that is how I feel. Only one or two people here have stated that medical problems, and medications are to blame for some folk. I am sure it it is higher than 10%, but it is hidden, because it is better to blame the victims than do research that might amount to something.

There is also evidence that there are other genetic factors going on which predispose people to becoming overweight, or, to another condition which will then make them overweight. The medical profession really don't know the answers. In a 'normal', (whatever that is) healthy human being, with all parts of the body working as they should, it is not a problem, and the eat only enough to match your energy needs is fine. But many many people have much more going on in their bodies, and are unable to respond in the same way.

And yes, I agree with the person who talked about the calorie charts. They are a complete nonsense. For a start, everybody is different and will need a different number of calories a day, but the figures they give are way too high. Not only do folk not understand calorific intake, they are told to eat more than they need. The advice someone gave earlier about portion sizes is absolutley right. Cut portions in half or thirds and it would help.

I could go on and on, I feel so insensed. The stupid media hype about how wonderful emaciated models look is another problem that needs dealing with.

As for people who went through the horrifying experiences of concentration camps, of course they were thin. When you have virtually no food for months or years on end, of course you are thin. As for folk in the war and post war periods, well some were fat. And not just the ones who had a priviledged position. There are so many different contributary reasons for people being overweight, that just blaming the person (without knowing anything about them) is an ignorant, judgemental and arrogant attitude. Some of you may learn to your cost later in life!

To the person who asked the original question...please try and take a broader view. It is not as simple as black and white, and there needs to be alot more research going on to identify some of the physiological reasons behind weight gain. It isn't just about eating. Hopefully a few years down the line we may have some answers, and the attitude of the community will be more reasoned and balanced.

Answer 5

Hello, if i may as a foreigner give another answer:

- the drinks are taking a significant part in the problem (not only talking about alcohol), don't drink soft drinks, fruit juices (even if marketed as very healthy) ... the best beverage for a meal is water (preferably still);
- secondly the snack "culture" takes a role in what is happening, having 3 proper meals, ie seated, with the time being taken, eating well balanced combination of food is key!

Then you have the obvious complementary answers like the fault of the food manufacturers (well a big mac without fries and soft drink is healthy if not eated every day, from time to time is fine), the food culture (or the absence of the food culture maybe ...) but that is a huge problem that is very difficult to change.

As you can guess, i am French.

Hope that it has helped you.

Cheers, D

Answer 6

Ultimately, the obese person has to take responsibility for how they are. But why are fat people looked at in disgust yet anorexic people are pitied, eating too much or too little is a disorder!!
Food manufacturers should take some responsibility, promoting processed foods as healthy etc when they really are not. Home cooked food has to be better than the quicker fattening option of processed food. I'm fat & only I can change that but if you listen to the government we fat people are a drain on the NHS.........I very rarely attend the doctors & healthy weight people I know seem to be there every week. This government should stop blaming obese & smokers (I don't smoke) for being the drain on NHS, they are just looking for a cop out.

Answer 7

You can eat as much as you like and not get fat or obese, just don't swallow and you will be fine.
Of course exercise and a good diet would really help and thats down to the individual but to loose weight all you have to do is stop swallowing. Simple really.
Realistically I blame McDonalds and fast food and the life style of the 21 century. Kids being driven to school in 4 x 4's, little or no sport and a too much time watching tv or playing computer games.
Habits set in kids are very hard to change in later life so perhaps we should blame the parents! they initiallty control the diet!

Answer 8

The obese individual is to blame unless they are a child, in which case, the parents are to blame. Every adult is responsible for their own actions. The fact that there are more sugary foods on the shelves and that there are more McDonald's in nearly every high street shouldn't be an issue. We have a choice whether to eat these things or not. People have got lazier too. They just don't want to exercise or walk anywhere. The car's sitting outside so it gets used just for going up the road. In short, the individual obese person is to blame. The sad thing is, that once a person gets to that stage, it's very hard to change.

Answer 9

Many ideas on the subject including the blame on manufacturers as we have no real say in what we eat, the supermarkets seem to dictate out diet and shopping habits.

"NOW IN MY DAY" The "corner shop" was open for individual orders and pleased to supply what we asked for but then in our ignorance we had no real idea what was good or bad except for the handed down through the generations rules.
It's an eating bonanza now with little restraint shown for fatties or skinnies alike of which I am the former gaining a stone in weight each year up until I was 21, I'm now 61 and diabetic and around the 17 stone mark. I eat with caution most of the time but cannot seem reduce my weight.
Is this all to do with the post war diet and the "clear your plate before you can have pudding" theme or is it the salt/sugar/preservative problem that seems to be prevalent in most foods plus the fact refrigeration plays a bigger part now in our food so there should be even less need for all the chemicals and preservatives consumed. Then the time in between meals seems shorter so we cram more food into shorter time and don't have the sense to use a more balanced life style so to even out the excesses of our modern diet!!

Answer 10

It's not as simple as that to blame one element - there is a combination of things contributing not just to obesity, but to all other food-related illnesses.

It's the chemically-loaded content in something as simple as basic fruit and veg, let alone junk food. It's the media and loved-ones upholding an impossible standard and chipping away at people's confidence. It's too many work hours and commitments. It's junk food being made much cheaper than food which is healthier. Also, it's the fact that times have changed.

I read a book once that raised an interesting point: Once upon a time, you were paid to work out because you had to do manual labour - now you have to pay for a gym membership, equipment, classes, etc.

Given the increasing amount of obstacles in the way financially, particularly for those who are working class or lower-middle class, while it's far from impossible to lose weight, it's getting increasingly difficult.

In order to live properly, you'd have to be spending at least £1,500 a month altogether, which includes nutritional supplements, classes, gym equipment, gym membership, organic food, oxygenated water...and the list goes on.

It's not just a case of just getting up in the morning and deciding to get your fat behind to a gym. The person is ultimately responsible for what they do. Yes, this is true. But it's completely unfair to lay the blame entirely on them.

Answer 11

Unhealthy foods and society. The ease and cheapness of 'bad' food is largely to blame but also society. In the last 20 to 30 years it has become the norm to vegetate in front of the TV and computers for teenagers and young children. All adults owe it to the future generations to kerb this by promoting exercise of all types in school and cheaply out of school. Local gyms charging lower rates will also help as I know many people including myself on low incomes who would join a gym if it was cheaper to do so. By the way I am overweight too but not obese but I have 5 healthy children who weigh around the right amount.