Economic Analysis of Obesity - Essay Example

Obesity (law and economics) Introduction It is apparent that obesity is treated as a problem of public healthor even as a personal issue related to body fitness and attractiveness. However, it can not be ignored that quantitative analysis of law and economic is a vital component of finding solutions to obesity and its related effects. It is argued that obesity is avoidable not only through physical means, but also through behavioral changes (Youfa and May 8). In this regard, it is true to argue that law and economics play part in dictating individual behaviors. In light with this, the following sections will articulate on the analysis of how law and economics contributes to the issue of obesity and who becomes victims of the same. A clear mitigation of the problem will be assessed in relation to contribution of law and economics. Rationale for victims of obesity According to the World Health Organization, obesity is defined as the condition marked by excess body fat (Youfa and May 8). Body Mass Index (BMI) {weight (kg)/ height (m) 2} is widely used to assess obesity. For adults, world health organization defines obesity using BMI cutpoints of 25 and 30 kg/m2, respectively. It has also been recommended that waist circumference cutpoints of 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women be used to define central obesity. For children, BMI percentile of age and gender has been utilized particularly in the U.S. Specifically, overweight is defined as a BMI greater than 95th BMI percentile (Youfa and May 18). Generally, however, it is argued that obese people are defined as those who are more than 20 percent above their medically determined ideal weight. Statistics indicate that, in the past few decades, there has been an increase with the number of Americans who are considered to be obese from about 25 percent to about 33 percent (Ogalthorpe 94). Studies have documented that among the major contributing factors include poor eating habits and lack of exercise. Due to change in economic times and various laws regarding health and economic issues, many people are faced with the risk of becoming obese. With these deliberations, it has been argued that both economically advantaged and economically disadvantages become victims of obese. For example, rich people are argued to be busy with their jobs and businesses. Although they have all the resources necessary to have the diet they desire, they lack enough time to exercise (Sassi 102). Children who come from rich families are argued to have a tendency of taking meals of their choices as long as their desires are met. They go for sweet snacks and other foods with high contents of calories. As a consequence, they gain weight, but most of them fail to exercise. On the other hand, poor people may lack enough money to place a balanced diet on their tables. They tend to go for cheap meals, which most of them, unfortunately, contains a lot of starch. Getting alternative meals or other variety of diets is difficult. This leads to overweight (Youfa and May 12). Economic analysis Economic analysis in relation to obesity can be viewed from two perspectives. One involves economic as a contributing factor to obesity and economic in terms of consequences of obesity. When prices of calories fall, it is apparent that many people will be able to purchase plenty of it. This is argued to be true because, when food prices are high, some people find it difficult to purchase them (Youfa and May 17). Another issue of concern is when income for many people has gone up. It is obvious that when income has gone up, many people are able to afford different foods and in plenty. The apparent consequence of these deliberations is that rise in weight would be a natural phenomena. Unlike in developing societies, industrialized or post industrialized societies like the United States have problems with balancing weight gain and exercise (Ogalthorpe 91). For example, in developing societies, physical exertion is required to provide with labor. This involves strenuous work. However, the situation is different in post industrialized societies. Most of the work involves machines with little exercise by people. In fact, it has been argued that continued technological advances have played a part in weight gain to many Americans, who rely on machines to perform most of the tasks (Youfa and May 15). Studies indicate since 1960s the average weight of American adult female rose by 14 pounds from 140 to 154 pounds. Adult male average weight has increased by 16 pounds from 166 to 182. It is argued that development in food technology constitute 78 percent of the rising cases of calories consumption (Youfa and May 20). However, studies also point out that increase in food technology implies that there could be a decline in per capita income, something that encourages people to take meals from outside their homes. Table 1 shows percentage growth of Americans aggregate economy Aggregate economy ?% from 1960s to date GDP 13% Food away from home 41% Non food 19% Investment 38% Total calories 12% These figures indicate that, as the GDP increases, many Americans tend to invest more, meaning that most of the time they are in businesses. At the same time, quite a big percentage stops taking their meals from home and adopt the tendency of taking meals away from home. This has an implication that their eating habits are not well taken care of (Sassi 108). Nevertheless, economic achievements can also be looked at as a calling for people to refrain from weight gain to weight loss. Since economic development is associated with technological advancements, the gym revolution has been on the increase to counter weight gain. Increases in per capita income offer an opportunity for people to be able to afford body fitness programs such as gym. Consequences of obesity are numerous and dire. One and the most notable one is the risk factors of prevalent of serious complications such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. In a broader sense, these risks translate to their effects being felt by major public programs such as Medicare. Since obesity brings about the above mentioned complications, it is apparent that programs that deal with these complications will be burdened when dealing with them (Ogalthorpe 98). This means that apart from the normal, predictable cases of these illnesses, these programs have to have an extra budget and programs to cater for cases related to or emanating as a result of obesity y. At an individual level, obesity can cause financial problems as affected people try to seek medication. The situation is worsened when affected persons develop other complications. This means that they have to use more resources in order to tackle the issue comprehensively. When individuals are unable to take care of medical bills, their families take the burden. This means that the repercussion of obesity especially on financial constrains is extended to the society. For those that may not be affected by obesity, they loose thousands of dollars each year trying to lose weight in gyms and dieting. Legal analysis The law has played an integral role in various health issues. For example, the fight against smoking has been boosted by laws regulating smoking. Today, due to the rampant of obesity cases, public health laws are considered ideal to contain the situation. The main issue of concern is on how to prevent obesity from occurring. This primarily involves regulating food ingredients and additives (Youfa and May 24). In 2004, around 17 percent of American children and teenagers of up to 19 years were obese. According to the report by the institute of medicine, it was argued that if the trend was to continue for a period of seven years, 20 percent of children and teens would be obese. However, to counter the trend, laws aimed at improving nutrition and psychical activity among children and adults have been considered ideal. One of legislations argued to play a part in curbing the menace is the food, drug, and cosmetic act. The food and drug administration requires that food be labeled with precise products and possible adverse effects as a result of consuming the product. The administration required food manufacturers to label their products with fat content by 2006. This also required fast food restaurants to provide information on caloric content (Ogalthorpe 99). Another focus has been to regulate advertisements, which tends to encourage bad eating habits which contribute to obesity. However, this kind of regulation is faced with both political and legal challenges. All in all, the major effort should focus on enlightening the public on the role of physical and eating habits. A greater understanding of regulation of environmental conditions that contribute to bad choices of food needs to be emphasized. Conclusion The fight against obesity should focus on different aspects of life. Although people may see it as a condition wholly dependent on eating habits, both economic and legal issues tends to dictate individual life, which lead to obesity. In this regard, crafting certain regulations in order to counter obesity is a good move. Economic prospects comes both a contributing factors and effects of obesity. Works cited: Ogalthorpe, Larry. Public health law: power, duty, restraint. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. Print. Sassi, Franco. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. New York: OECD Publishing, 2010. Youfa, Wang and May, Beydoun. "The Obesity Epidemic in the United States—Gender, Age, Socioeconomic, Racial/Ethnic, and Geographic Characteristics: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis." Epidemiologic Reviews 29 (2007):6–28. Print. Read More