Societal Trends towards Obesity

8/18/2019 Societal Trends towards Obesity

1/9

Societal Trends towardsSocietal Trends towards

ObesityObesity

For Assignment or Dissertation Help, PleaseContact:

Muammad Sa!id Saeed

"## $#$ #%#&$'(

)mail:todrsaeed*gmail+com

Sype -D: tosa!idsaeed

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


2/9


3/9

INTRODUCTION

Obesity is a social issue that has been affecting nations around the globe as it is the most

extensively faced issue in most social societies. As the obesity, for the consequences on

individual lives are detrimental, is not acceptable for any class or culture in the world, the issue

has been of great debate and remarkable attempts made by the countries to address and handle it.

The obesity as it is related with the social and economic status of the individuals residing in a

region are the topic under discussion for this essay. The obesity in particular context its

association with the poverty in western communities and also in Algeria has been studied further

in this discussion.

INTRODUCTION TO OBESITY

To determine if an individual is obese, the body weight is required to be compared to a set

standard and internationally, it is done by comparing the body weight with the height of the

individual. Any individual having a weight above the desirable limit according to the height is

believed to be obese. Obesity, in the scientific terms is the accumulation of fat which is in excess

in the body and this could lead to adverse health effects (aslam and !ames, "##$%. &hether a

person is obese or not is mainly determined by the body mass index which is calculated by

measuring a person's weight and height in kilograms and meters respectively (nsel, Turner,

)oss, "##*%, and any + above -# kgm" depicts a man obese (&O, "###%. A number of

diseases are contributed by obesity such as numerous cardiac diseases, diabetes particularly type

two diabetes and certain categories of carcinomas, osteoarthritis and obstructive sleep apnea are

to name a few (aslam and !ames, "##$%.

Obesity is caused ma/orly by a combination of three factors which are excessive intake of high

energy food, physical activity dearth and genetic susceptibility. owever, some other causes of

obesity include certain endocrine disorders, defected genes, psychiatric illnesses and certain

medications ()obert, "##0%. n treating obesity, two interventions are of key importance, diet

control and physical exercise. 1nhancing an individual's quality of dietary intake could play a

significant role in preventing and curing obesity for example reduction in the energy dense food

product and increasing the fibre intake on daily basis. n certain cases, anti2obesity drugs are also


4/9

administered to control the adverse consequences and in cases where all these are not effective,

some other approaches such as stomach bands and gastric balloons are also used to cope with the

issue (ma3 et al. "##4%. Around the globe, the obesity has been considered as one of the most

solemn health concern for the public as it is a prominent cause of death which is avertable

(+arness et al. "##0%.

CURRENT SOCIETAL TRENDS TOWARDS OBESITY

istorically considered a sign of fertility and richness in certain regions of the world even today

(&oodhouse, "##4%, the obesity has been stigmati3ed in the contemporary society particular the

western culture (aslam and !ames, "##$%. The media coverage of obesity has been observably

increased manifolds over past years and it is almost impossible for an individual to pass his

whole day without being exposed to anything in the media addressing with the weight loss and

consequences of obesity in western civili3ations.The food trends in the 5nited 6tates have been

considered as the ma/or cause of obesity in the society and the ever increasing rate is associated

with the increased consumption of high energy, high calorie food (7utnam et al. "##"%. The

dietary habits of the individuals like the increased consumption of snacks, caloric beverages and

fast food among not only the children but also the young adults has been reported extensive for

being associated with the excessive weight gain and high obesity rates in the society (8rench et

al. "##9%. The affordability of the food thus makes the /unk food a ma/or reason of obesityamong the rich however this may not be true in certain situations.

LINK OF OBESITY WITH THE SOCIETY

&ith the increased awareness about the social issue, the need to control it has raised remarkably

making the understanding more important about the reasons which contribute to the obesity

trends in any society. Over the past years, the rates of obesity have raised drastically

(6choenborn, "##"% and according to a study conducted in 5nited 6tates, almost :;< of the

population of adults who belonged to the age group of = "# years, in 5nited 6tates were

overweight and thirty per cent of these were obese (56>6, "###% in the time period of 9***2

"###. Among certain sub groups of the population, a significant increase in the massively obese

individuals was found carrying a body mass index on =-$ (?umanyika, 9***%. This increased


5/9

obesity levels among the population calls further to understand the social factors that contribute

to unhealthy eating habits of individuals belonging to certain social class.

OBESITY AND THE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS OF INDIVIDUALS

The current increase in the obesity rate of populations could not be totally described by the

genetic influences and require a more appropriate discussion (@ach et al. "##:%. The two factors

ma/orly contributing to obesity, the energy consumption and energy expenditure have been

considerably debated during last few years to discuss the shifts in the eating habits (the energy

consumption% and lifestyle (1nergy expenditure% on the social scale. The rates of obesity are

ominously associated with the socioeconomic status of an individual and the obesity and the

related diseases are found to be more linked with the people with limited living resources and

poor (56>6, "###%. onsidering this important aspect in the female population of the

American society, it was reported that women coming from low income and also low educational

groups of the society were more obese (7aeratakul et al. "##"% contributed by less awareness and

concern about the physical fitness. owever, this association is not reported to be so much

consistent among the male population as is seen in females (8legal et al . "##"%.

A survey conducted by the &orld ealth organisation in 5nited 6tates to evaluate the health

status of the :4, $$: adults who participated in the Bational ealth 6urvey, indicted a positive

association among the highest obesity rates in the society and the low education and income of

the individuals (6choeborn et al. "##"%. The results obtained from this survey as were published

by &O and it could be easily observed from the datathat the rate of obesity has been increasing

among all sub groups of the population however, the rates are significantly higher among the

most deprived population group of poor (okda et al. "##-%.Another ma/or contributor to

obesity, as studied in the western societies is the food insecurity (+asiotis and Cino, "##"%. The

food insecurity could be defined as the uncertainty for the availability of food which is

nutritionally acceptable and also safe (+lumberg et al. 9***%. The extensive studies in the field

indicates that a rather complex association is present among the three factors, the obesity,

poverty and the food insecurities, (?endall et al. 9**:%.

A study conducted by cCaren ("##0% about the link between socio2economic status of the

individuals and obesity,it was reported that the variation among the correlation of the social class


6/9

and the body mass index is significantly observed globally. The women belonging to the high

social class of the society are found to be less likely to be obese and this class difference is

comparatively less significant among the male population of the society. n the developed

countries, a number of factors contribute to a controlled body mass index of the high social class

individuals such as their affordability of the high nutrition foods, societal pressure to be fit and

slim and the greater opportunities for physical fitness. 8urther the attitudes towards the body

mass index plays a ma/or role in controlling obesity and this awareness comes with education.

The individuals from low social class and low education are more likely to be obese for this

factor, low awareness of body mass index and its value (cCaren, "##0%.

Algeria is a country belonging to the Borth Africa and having a population of -0, *##, ### out of

which an estimated "-< have been categorised to be poor (+enabib, "##0%. The situation,

when it comes to the association of poverty with the social class of an individual is no different

from the western world. This could be demonstrated by the rate of obesity in the country which

was reported to be around 9:.;< in the year "##- while in "##: the rate varied to include 9#.-<

of boys and 4.0< of girls under the category of overweight kinds belonging to the age group of

six tot en years (inistry of Agriculture, "#9#%. The high social class has been resided by more

fit individuals of the society that is believed to be contributed by the similar factors as have been

observed to be contributing to the western societies such as the social pressure, awareness and

education level and affordability. On the other hand, the food insecurities, low or absent food

availably of good nutritional quality and deficient awareness contribute to the significantly high

obesity rates among the poor population of the society which is undoubtedly a common factor

for both western societies and Algeria.

CONCLUSION

Obesity is a ma/or concern for the societies around the globe and the prevention and control have

emerged as a ma/or challenge in different parts of the world. 5nderstanding of the factors

contributing to societal practices leading to obesity in the society in important and when studied

in association with the socio economic status of an individual, in the present time, it could be

observed that poor people of the community tends to be more obese. This is contributed by the

low awareness and low concern of the physical fitness and food insecurities as could be observed


7/9

from the above study. On the other hand, the rich population of the society tends to be more

concerned about their fitness as the trends are more strictly followed by those who could afford

almost anything that could facilitate their weight loss activities. &hen compared this situation in

the western community with that of Algeria, the results are almost similar. The poor population

of the community tends to be more obese and the reasons are similar to those observed in the

western culture.


8/9

REFERENCES

+arness, C.A., Opit3, !.. and Dilbert2+arness, 1. ("##0%. ObesityE genetic, molecular, andenvironmental aspects. American Journalof Medical Genetics, A9;-A(";%, pp. -#9:F

-#-;.

+asiotis, 7.7. and Cino, . ("##"%. 8ood insufficiency and prevalence of overweight among adult

women, Nutrition Insights, ":, pp. 92".

+enabib ("##0%. 7overty and acroeconomic >evelopment in AlgeriaE &hat is the

contribution of Oil )evenuesG Center for Islamic Economics and Finance, Hatar 8aculty

of slamic 6tudies, Hatar 8oundation

+lumberg, 6.!., +ialostosky, ?., amilton, &.C. and +riefel, ).). (9***%. The effectiveness of a

short form of the ousehold 8ood 6ecurity 6cale. American Journal of Public Health,

4*(4%, pp. 9"-929"-;.

8legal, ?.., arroll, .>., Ogden, .C. and !ohnson, .. ("##"%. 7revalence and trends inobesity among 56 adults 9***F"###, JAMA, "44, pp. 90"-F90"0

8rench, 6.A., 6tory, . and !effery, ).&. ("##9%. 1nvironmental influences on eating and

physical activity. Annual e!ie"of Public Health, "", pp. -#*2-$.

aslam, >.&. and !ames, &.7. ("##$%. Obesity. #ancet -::(*;*"%, pp. 99*0F"#*

ma3, . artIne32ervell, . DarcIa2Alvare3, 1.1., 6endra2DutiJrre3, !.. and Don3Kle321nrIque3, !. ("##4%. 6afety and effectiveness of the intra2gastric balloon for obesityE A

meta2analysis. $bes%urg 94(0%, pp. 4;9F4;:

nsel, 7. ., Turner, ).1. and )oss, >. ("##*%. Nutrition. >oody's )eview 6ervice 1dition

?endall, A., Olson, .. and 8rongillo, 1.A. (9**:%. )elationship of hunger and food insecurity

to food availability and consumption, Journal of American &ietician Association, *:, pp.

9#9*29#";.

?umanyika, 6.?. (9***%. 5nderstanding ethnic differences in energy balanceE can we get therefrom hereG American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 0#, pp. 9F"

cCaren, C. ("##0%. 6ocioeconomic status and obesity. E'idemiol e!ie", "*, pp. "*2;4.

inistry of Agriculture ("#9#%. 8ood and Butrition nsecurityE A omprehensive 8ood 6ecurity

and Butrition 6urvey. Ministr( of agriculture and )orld Food Programme, Ciberia


9/9

okdad, A.., 8ord, 1.6. and +owman, +.A. ("##-%. 7revalence of obesity, diabetes, and

obesity2related health risk factors, JAMA, "4*, pp. 0:F0*

7aeratakul, 6., Cove/oy, !.., )yan, >.. and +ray, D.A. ("##"%. The relation of gender, race and

socioeconomic status to obesity and obesity comorbidities in a sample of 5. 6. adults

International Journal $besit( elated Metabolic &isorders, ":, pp. 9"#$29"9#

7utnam, !., Allshouse, !. and ?antor, C.6. ("##"%. 5.6. per capita food supply trendsE more

calories, refined carbohydrates, and fats. Food e!ie", "$, pp. "29$.

)obert, ?. ("##0%. *reatment of the $bese Patient +Contem'orar( Endocrinolog(, Totowa, B!E

umana 7ress. p. 9$4

6choenborn, .A. ("##"%. Adams 78, +arnes 7. +ody weight status of adultsE 5nited 6tates,

9**0F*4. Ad!ance &ata, --#, pp. 929$.

56 >epartment of ealth and uman 6ervices 56>66 ("###%. Health( 'eo'le -/. "nd

edition &ashington, >E 56 Dovernment 7rinting Office

&orld ealth Organi3ation (&O% ("##"%. 8ood and Agriculture Organi3ation. )eport of the

/oint &O8AO expert consultation on diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic

diseases, &orld ealth Organisation Technical )eport 6erial *9:

&oodhouse, ). ("##4%. Obesity in artE A brief overview. Front Horm es. 8rontiers of ormone

)esearch -:, pp. "092"4:.

@ach, >. 6tuckler, >. and +rownell, ?.>. ("##:%. 1pidemiologic and economic consequences of

the global epidemics of obesity and diabetes. National Medicine 9"(9%, pp. :"2::.

Documents

Societal Trends towards Obesity