What Are the Causes of Obesity in China - Essay Example

OBESITY: CHINA by Full of the of School The (where the school is located) July 15, Obesity: China Introduction The world does not stand still and daily some innovations appear, new formulas of well-being are presented and more temptations are proposed to people making it extremely hard to fight the urge of trying all of them. Getting sophisticated people rarely think about the consequences of “beneficial” pleasures. No wonder then that today’s problem of the excess weight is accepted as something completely unexpected, even though everything has pointed at such a probable development of the event. As follows from OECD (2014), [h]eight and weight have been increasing since the 18th century, as income, education and living conditions gradually improved overtime. While weight gains were largely beneficial to the health and longevity of our ancestors, an alarming number of people have now crossed the line beyond which further gains are dangerous. There is always the cause-and-effect linkage in all the situations that is why drastic growth of obesity rate is predictable. Unfortunately, there is no chance to change the past but it is high time to start working on the present not to regret about it later. Junk American-Chinese Diet All of a sudden, China shows promise to gain the same rate of obesity and overweight as America does. The cachet of Western culture has a global intervention all over the world and China is one of the areas influenced by it. Being famous for delicate taste of tea variety, Chinese people replace tea preferences with coffee that is more caloric, especially with milk. For some reason chocolate gained more popularity making its contribution into the general obesity rate. As a matter of fact, going out for a dinner is more appealing than staying at home and spending hours in the kitchen or ordering pizza is a good alternative to a home-cooked meal. The choice is made in favor of saturated fat instead of organic food. Such a diet deviates the one that preceded it. Only several decades ago it consisted mostly of fruits and vegetables, grain and a low consumption rate of the animal-based products. Nowadays getting back to such nutrition seems to be almost impossible, though impossible is nothing when there is a wish to introduce alterations. Such pivotal changes in Chinese cuisine were dictated by a number of the events described further that left an indelible mark. What Does Make China Gain Extra Weight? The present lifestyle of Chinese people tends to bring more sophistication into daily routine because the way of life is changed a lot. According to Deneen et al. (2011), [i]n China, access to Westernized TV programming and food advertising has increased. Over a decade ago, urban Chinese children spent 17,2 hours a week …watching TV. Advertisements for food products, such as soft drinks and salty snacks, constituted more than 80% of commercials in China. In general, there is a big change in people’s attitude towards nutrition: the plethora of dishes makes consumers picky. Food became a whim instead of being necessity, and the majority does not even imagine that their ancestors ate to live, not vice versa. There is no need to order more than it is possible to ingest dining out but in such a way visitors of the restaurants demonstrate their well-being. Such an attitude is premised on modernization as well as on the development of Chinas economy. Time is money: in a constant chase for more funds each spare moment is spent on work and there is no wish to spend it on cooking. Additionally, in the recent past it was absolutely normal that most people were riding bicycles while at the present time high-priced cars push out bicycles from the roads. Vehicles are more expensive but there is no need to strain and it is more relaxing to drive a smart car. Modernization has many pleasant advantages but they do not count as a preventive measure when it comes up to the questions of obesity. Permission of export products in Chinese market had a global meaning. The relevance of “new” goods gained popularity very fast because it was different and available variety was a key moment in that situation. And the other fundamental check point is agriculture as its productivity grew up tremendously providing much more food than could be consumed. Altogether, these factors became a reason why China got into the list of the countries whose population is putting on extra weight against the clock. Being aware of the situation is not enough, everyone should demonstrate consciousness for taking warning by the previous example. Secrets That Obesity Keeps under Its Mask The consequences of the overweight should be divided into four main groups for better systematization of the major factors: social effect, health, education and economic influence. The most obvious aftermath belongs to the health group because people start facing such problems as sleep apnea, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and high blood pressure. But it is getting more dangerous when it comes to heart diseases and cancer that are not less possible than mentioned above. Usually facing such problems, depression becomes an irreplaceable "companion". This is not a complete list of health problems that are waiting for people who spoil themselves with junk food, but it is enough to start thinking what is more important, health or unhealthy diet. As the result of the foregoing, economic influence does not keep waiting for too long. There is a direct bondage between health problems and economic impact because “being awarded”, at least, with one of those diseases, it automatically supposes expenses for the treatment, medicines, for healthcare itself. Also, it emerges that the conclusion of different surveys is always the same in a question of education. According to the vast explorations, it was proven that the more success a person gains in the educational process, the fewer problems appear with the overweight later. This factor cannot be considered as the only one that influences such a problem but it has a critical meaning. Longevity of people with weight problems is as short as longevity of people with some smoking problems. The final conclusion is that being uneducated is dangerous to life. Finally, social effect is the last but not the least among the other consequences. It is devastating but discrimination is an up-to-date issue that requires more attention. Sometimes being obese is a synonym for being discriminated. Such an attitude is alarming because it causes low self-esteem of people who suffer from extra weight making them asocial and depressed. Living in a society it is necessary to cooperate with each other because life of each separate person depends on collective understanding of the interrelation. Healthy Life Costs a Wish for It It is always easier to give a runaround to blame for bad luck instead of taking responsibility for own choices. Being more attentive to others, there is a chance to prevent falling into the same trap. As World Health Organization (n.d.) claims, “[e]ffective weight management for individuals and groups at risk of developing obesity involves a range of long-term strategies. These include prevention, weight maintenance, management of co-morbidities and weight loss”. Additionally, it is necessary to work on health education and to develop programs of healthy diets. It could be a good idea to organize some food services that would present only healthy ration. To all this one more option may be added: curriculum should include, at least, elementary basis of healthy eating. Creation of motives for more physical activities should be discussed at the national level. But it will be of no use if each parent does not teach his or her children to keep a healthy lifestyle that can be done only by setting the right examples to follow and to inherit. It is not less important to take care of balanced nutrition and to avoid junk food as much as possible starting from the very childhood, because usually parents spoil their children since early age with chips, chocolates, soda, crisps and other food of such a kind. To be healthy is a complex concept that combines physical, psychological, social and mental well-being that is why only eating vegetables and fruits does not give any guarantees for achievement of healthy life style. Health is the best investment ever thus economy is absolutely inappropriate in such a question. Conclusion To sum it up, Chinese obesity epidemic is influenced both by American culture and by Globalization, but it would not be fair to conceal own laziness inventing grave reasons to be justified. The truth is that there is a global problem that has appeared all over the world, which should be solved at high level. At the same time, it will never happen if each person does not take responsibility for own life. The expected conclusion should comprise a concept of general consciousness improvement that is the key point along with a good enough motivation for giving preferences to healthy life style that should be daily maintained. The problem may exist but it is senseless to expect another result doing the same repetitive things. Reference List Deneen, K, Wei, Q, Tian, J & Liu, Y 2011, ‘Obesity in China: What are the Causes?’, Current Pharmaceutical Design, vol. 17, no. 12, viewed 13 July 2014, . OECD, 2014, ‘Obesity Update’, viewed 13 July, 2014, . World Health Organization, n.d., ‘Obesity and Overweight’, viewed 13 July 2014, . Read More