Why are we still ONLY focused on sedentary lifestyles and diets when addressing obesity in the US? Why are we not also looking at ways to decrease exposures to those chemicals that may be contributing to the epidemic?
I believe there are two reasons why we focus on sedentary lifestyles and diet when addressing obesity: it's easier to blame the individual, and companies want to make a profit.
It's common for people to think that the reason why some people are obese is due to them being lazy. Studies show that people who are obese are often discriminated against because of how they look. For example, a study conducted by Flint et al., (2016) demonstrated shocking results: you are less likely to be hired if you are obese.
It's easy to blame individuals for their problems, and by blaming the individual then you repress the problem. This is especially beneficial for companies. From a company perspective it's their goal to make money to stay afloat. Even though mounting evidence suggets that certain chemicals maybe linked to obesity, they would never admit their role in this problem. They do not care about the individual, they care about profit. Obesity is such a complex problem, and a large contriubuting facotr is obesogenic environments, which are rooted in profit. Despite all of this, no one will ever admit to it. As long as you don't admit to it, it doesn't exist, and isn't a problem.
Flint, S. W., Čadek, M., Codreanu, S. C., Ivić, V., Zomer, C., & Gomoiu, A. (2016). Obesity Discrimination in the Recruitment Process: "You're Not Hired!". Frontiers in psychology, 7, 647. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00647
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ReplyDeleteInteresting points your raise Lorena on how easy it is for companies to blame individuals and the choices they are making that lead to their obesity/weight problems. What I've seen lately change within the food industry are their policies in how they advertise their foods (not targeting children), offering healthier options for kids (like apples and juice, rather than fries and sodas), and supporting active lifestyle initiatives (Xu, 2013). My only question, is this enough? This seems to only address the superficial level of the obesity problem and doesn't get to the root of the issue.
ReplyDeleteCitation:
Xu, J. (2013). How the food industry is joining the fight against obesity. Retrieved from: https://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/content/how-food-industry-joining-fight-against-obesity
Hi Lorena,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that companies are thinking for their own profits and they do not care about public health. The existing market power has influenced the U.S. economy and companies exercise market power in their output markets as sellers either by raising prices relative to what they would charge in a competitive market or by reducing quality using different chemicals in their products. It is the people who are affecting by chemicals, not the companies. You mentioned a good example, obesity.
Thank you,
Sayed