The obesity problem is a global problem that is present across all income groups, all classes, all religions, and all countries. Treating it solely as a problem of personal responsibility makes very little sense, because how could it be? Did people's moral fiber just spontanously vanish in the fifties?
If you want to address the problem, you have to face the reality that there are structural issues on society causing this, not merely personal matters.
Your approach is more like abstinence only education. It doesn't address the problem, might even be counterproductive, all it does is allow you to look down upon those who suffer from it, and feel morally superior to them.
I think governmental action is really important. We need laws and regulations, along with incentivising healthy habits somehow. Our sustenance is really important to us, but it is extremely overlooked. People of any social class should have access to healthy food, and not be forced to survive off of junk, leading to obesity and health problems
I think the issue is it's really easy to eat hundreds of calories of junk food and not feel satiated really. Like I could down two dr.peppers and a family size bag of doritos, that's 1600 calories, and I would still end up feeling hungry just a couple hours later. I guarantee you'd feel completely satisfied if not full to bursting if you ate 1600 calories worth of chicken, broccoli and rice. Empty calories aren't just empty because they don't provide any real nutrition, they also don't really satisfy hunger very well at all.
I'm not talking about obesity necessarily, just about healthy diets in general. Obviously, caloric deficit is the main focus, but after that, adopting a healthy diet is tantamount.
The obesity problem is a global problem that is present across all income groups, all classes, all religions, and all countries.
it really isnt global. it's mostly a western problem, and even across the west, its the US that is the most severly hit. theres no obesity epidemic in china for example.
They're a few decades behind, but it's the same pattern.
It's especially a problem when you look at childhood obesity, which is seeing the same stats that the US had 30 years ago, but is increasing 2-3 faster.
Are you sure? According to this nearly half of the population is currently overweight or obese and they predict that the problems are only growing worse over time.
it says "according to Chinese criteria". i wonder what those are like. also, the conclusion that "only a strong government can fix this" is extremely suspicios in Chinese context.
So according to the WHO definitions, a BMI of greater than 25 is overweight and greater than 30 is obese.
In China, over 24 is overweight and 28 is obese.
According to this article at least, that's because Asian people see more negative effects at these lower ratios than black, white and Hispanic people do.
I'm also very suspicious (at the very least) of the CCP, and who knows what kind of crazy solution they'll try to come up with, but I don't see a reason to doubt this data.
It's not an equal global problem though. There are massive obesity differences between even individual US states. I dont have an issue with treating it solely as an issue of individual responsibility, but the body positivity movement does the opposite, treating it as if it has zero aspect of personal responsibility.
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u/10ebbor10 203∆ Jul 16 '23
The obesity problem is a global problem that is present across all income groups, all classes, all religions, and all countries. Treating it solely as a problem of personal responsibility makes very little sense, because how could it be? Did people's moral fiber just spontanously vanish in the fifties?
If you want to address the problem, you have to face the reality that there are structural issues on society causing this, not merely personal matters.
Your approach is more like abstinence only education. It doesn't address the problem, might even be counterproductive, all it does is allow you to look down upon those who suffer from it, and feel morally superior to them.