Obesity is a highly flexible disease, it can be found in all parts of the world and in all types of living environments. Obesity has many causes ranging from eating habits, food preparation, unhealthy physical lifestyles, transportation and more. Culture plays a huge role in the epidemic since with every culture there are different shared and learned behaviors. Wealth cannot save you from genetically being cursed with obesity, if there are traces of obesity in your family history. Ethnicity, smoking, and the environment also have taken their part in this epidemic. The obesity epidemic is a result of the modernization of the United States, however, there are many more factors that play a big part in obesity.
Obesity in culture can be misleading, but culture has such a general definition that any kind of behavior can fall under its name. One way to look at culture's role in obesity is to define it first. In this case, culture can be defined as a learned behavior first, then shared to other members of a community and eventually creating a symbol out of this behavior. "Culture influences human interactions and expectations. Culture interacts with biology, and biological functioning is modified by cultural norms"(Craig 2010:46). Culture promotes social interaction in most cases, and most people eat during social gatherings. Culture creates traditions, which culture embodies. In many culture's it is rude not to serve food to your guests even if they refuse any offerings. The blame cannot just be put on culture for the obesity epidemic because that is simply not fair.
Culture is made by humans and as a result we most likely made obesity what it is today. We cannot ignore the effect culture has on our bodies. "Once a problem is as pre...
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...is the hardest to understand because people come from all parts of the world to visit America. Their ethnicity plays a role that comes from outside of America but by them coming to the U.S it becomes a part of the epidemic.
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Obesity is a serious epidemic that majority of Americans face. The dangerous of obesity should not be taken lightly and addressed admittedly. However, the big question is how or why do some individuals stay skinny or become fat. The movie Weight of The Nations, Part 2: choice helps us explore this unanswered question to give us a better understanding of how this problem has gotten so out of control. This movie targets the obese society in America. This documentary uses scientist to research and address techniques to help people prevent weight gain and loss unhealthy weight. Most Americans want quick fixes to this problem, but have to realize big changes take time, but offer big results. Over all, the idea is to get people motivated by positive results to live a healthier live style.
According to Fed Up, a 2014 American documentary directed, written and produced by Stephanie Soechtig, “30% of Americans are obese” (Fed Up). A riveting and striking film, Fed Up explains the issues of obesity, the health consequences of eating unhealthy, and the varying problems that coincide with this national epidemic. While interviewing various families that struggle with obesity, the documentary shows a common theme: generations pass on their respected food traditions. For example, the Lopez family, from Hispanic dissent, states that in their culture, big statures and overweight individuals represent beauty and health; therefore, this family proceeds to consume an excessive amount of food because their ancestors before them did the same exact thing. Additionally, Fed Up touches on the issue that healthy foods, such as fresh vegetables and
Now in my case I was raised in a Hispanic family, that like many other families of our ethnic group we tend to neglect obesity and even fall in the error of looking at it as something good. From my ex...
Studies have linked obesity to many things from ear infections, to pollution, to air-conditioning, to socializing with obese people. The reason Americans are obese is because of the increasing luxury available to them. Obesity is a rising problem in the United States, and with all the privileges given to its citizens, the country has become increasingly lazy. With portion sizes rising and physical activity decreasing, it is easy to see how obesity rates have skyrocketed.
The African American culture appears to be more accepting of obesity than other cultures in society. On the other hand, African American women experience great social pressure in respect to body size and receive painful accounts of ridicule (Averett & Sanders, 1996). Obese African American women have also been linked to the lower socioeconomic status in regards having the means to purchase nutritional foods for a proper diet.
Scholars with a more anthropological twist have written about the different social perceptions of obesity, e.g. the positive view of fatness among some indigenous peoples (Swinburne et al. 1996). In an article entitled, “An anthropological Perspective on Obesity “ (Brown and Konner 1987), the authors found that “cross cultural data about body preferences for women reveal that over 80% of cultures for which shape preference data are available, people prefer a plump shape” (cited in Sobal 2004, 383).
In order to take a sociological viewpoint into account when one examines obesity, first it is important to understand how obesity is recognized in current society. According to today’s news articles and magazines and advertisements and other mass media about health and healthy life, one can easily realize that a great number of people have an eagerness to be healthy. Also, one can assume through these mass media about health that everyone wants to be attractive, and they are even prone to transform their own behaviors to gain attractiveness. This is because most people live a life where social interaction is frequently required and must engage themselves into social interaction every day of their life. Therefore, based on these ideas and proofs throughout this mass media, obesity is regarded as one of the characteristics that is disgraceful and undesirable in society.
Moon, Amy. "A Culture Obsessed with Thinness Propagates Misconceptions About Obesity." SF Gate (8 Apr. 2008). Rpt. in How Should Obesity be Treated? Ed. Stefan Kiesbye. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. At Issue. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.
There is no doubt that obesity has taken its seat as one of the top disease that strikes the world today. In America, obesity has now spread through the country leaving 2 out of 3 adults either overweight or obese, and worldwide 1.5 billion are overweight or obese (Overweight). The cause of this disease stems from multiple reasons such as the increase in modern food production, putting out ample amounts of food causing the prices for meat, groceries, and especially junk food to plummet. Subsequently, Americans especially were more inclined to purchase more food and showed an increase in the average American house hold food intake by 1,000 more calories a day (Dreifus).
Obesity rates have skyrocketed within the last 10-20 years. This is in direct correlation with the diet and exercise habits of cultures. As cultures begin to incorporate different culture’s cuisines into their own cultures, the obesity rate starts to increase. This is most likely caused by their heritage history being accustomed to their culture’s cuisine history. Then diet and exercise come into play as well. We live in a time where technology has almost taken over our lives. In modern day, we can drive wherever we need to go, we do not have to walk everywhere anymore; we do not have to even go to the grocery store anymore because Amazon.com has now made their website into a grocery store in select parts of the country where we pick what we need online and it is delivered to our house. This program is set to go nationwide soon, and eventually globally. This is the epitome of laziness and why different cultures are becoming obese; especially America. Diet and exercise have almost become a thing of the past in America. Yes, there is still a large amount of humans that still exercise daily, but not the average American. The most active age group, worldwide, is 22-34 year olds with an average salary of $20,000 or less (Thompson 2013). Cultures such as the Native Americans, Mexicans, Chileans, and the culture that tops the list; Americans, are among the world’s most obese cultures (Downey 2011).
According to the USDA, at the start of century 21st American people have increased their daily caloric intake by consuming five hundred calories more than in 1970. As cited by Whitney & Rolfes (2011), there are many recognized causes of obesity such as genetics, environment, culture, socioeconomic, and metabolism among others; but the cause most evident is that food intake is higher than the calories burned in physical activity. Excess of energy from food is stored in the body as fat causing an increase of weight. During the course of the last 40 years, obesity has grown enormously in the United States and the rates remain on the rise (pgs. 272-273).
There are many reasons why obesity is such a big problem in the world today. Even though food looks good and tastes good, does not mean it is healthy for you. The book Overweight America concludes that obesity wouldn’t be such a problem if people would burn off the calories that they ate. Overweight America states that fewer calories are being burned then ever before, and bad eating habits are happening everywhere mostly because there is high-calorie food waiting to be sold and healthy food is more expensive. Access to healthy food is limited in some communities; for example, Africa. According to Obesity; opposing viewpoints obesity is way higher in lower class homes and communities then higher-class communities. Access to gyms, community centers or safe playgrounds can also have an effect on obesity. If there aren’t the resources people need to stay in shape it is harder to have to motivation to want to be in shape.
Society should consider the physical and emotional problems of obesity in our nation. “Obesity is defined as an excess proportion of total body fat (Mayo Clinic).” American society has become increasingly obese, “characterized by environments that promote increased food intake, unhealthy foods, and physical inactivity (cdcinfo@cdc.gov).” Our nation increasingly has become consumers of a fast food diet. It is so simple to just pick up food on the go and not deal with the hassle of cooking and cleaning up afterwards. What are nation needs to acknowledge is the health risks they will obtain if they do not acquire a healthy life style.
Obesity, also referred to as being overly overweight, is a condition caused when one eats excessive amounts of food leading to storing more calories than one burns. These calories are stored as fats1. Obesity can develop from several causes and is usually influenced by genetics.
Obesity occurs in all countries and it is one of the gravest problems in modern society. Obesity problems have become one matter of concern for individuals all around the world. What is more is that Obesity rates continue to rise all around the world. One of the chief causes is unhealthy diets. Obesity is also due to lack of exercise and lack of education and awareness. Therefore obesity has various effects including the risk of suffering from a range of health conditions, increased expenditure on health care and lack of self-esteem.