Obesity and personal responsability - Thesis Example

?Obesity and Personal Responsibility Table of Contents Introduction 3 Finding Solution to the Research Question 3 Conclusion 8 9 References 10 Introduction This research paper will concentrate on the conception of obesity which is evolving as a classic thought among the citizens of United States. Obesity refers to that medical condition among the people in which the health of the people acquires excessive weight on their body. This form of health condition of the people leads to many diseases during their lifetime subsequently leading to early death. The US government has indulged itself in spending a huge some of money towards inducement of healthy lifestyle among the countrymen (Balko & Et. Al., “Are You Responsible for Your Own Weight?”). However, over the past few years, this move has not been much successful and hence the decision to encourage individuals towards taking personal responsibility for reducing obesity was taken up by the government. Based on this move of the government, this research paper is initiated and is aimed towards resolving answer to the research question which is as follows: Is obesity can be really termed as a personal responsibility of the individuals? The research paper will be validated if the government’s move towards redefining obesity as a personal responsibility can be evaluated to be successful. Finding Solution to the Research Question During the year 2004, the “Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act” was passed by the House of Representatives aiming towards prohibiting the lawsuits which are held by the restaurants and this would make the restaurants responsible for the obesity of their customers. After this act was passed, a representative from the Department of Health and Human Services insisted the government to include the factor of personal responsibility rather than bringing changes to the policies. The inclusion of the personal responsibility factor was then started to be initiated by the government through various inventiveness like that of launching various advertisement campaigns for encouraging people to be more mobile and suffer from less fatigue with lesser fatty foods. The government’s move towards the creation of healthy environment within the country was supported by various people as they were of the opinion that the motive was to encourage healthy options for appetite and not discouraging the freedom of selecting food. After the move of the government, various psychologists even indulged themselves in making the people learn the most effective techniques of changing their behavior towards consumption of healthy foods. But the success of these aspects is doubtful as evident from the lower percentage of people doing regular fitness exercise and they are merely involved in any structured activity. Since the government initiated the move towards inducing personal responsibility in obesity, is has been argued that the move cannot become successful. One important reason behind this is the people’s preferences for food based on the biological aspect inside their body. The biologically diverse pattern among the humans influences them to prefer certain food such as sweets to other foods such as spicy and vice versa with lots of other preferable choices (Sallis, “Obesity: Is personal responsibility the answer?”). There has been presence of various articles defining the people’s irresponsibility as the most vital reason of obesity since the government’s move towards either eradicating or reducing the same. With regards to these articles’ arguments, one might expect evidences of irresponsible nature of the people towards obesity. But the actual data reveals something opposite to the expectation. The following two figures explain the effectiveness of the government’s social move towards the aim of reducing obesity within the country. Figure 1: Trends in case of adolescent Figure 2: Trends in case of adults The above figures showing the trends in the movement of responsible nature of the adolescents and adults towards healthy behavior depicts the improving patterns of the individuals’ nature during the period from the year 1996 to 2007. This evidence is in opposition to the notion that certain individuals have perceived after the government announced the move (Brownell & Et. AL., “Personal Responsibility And Obesity: A Constructive Approach To A Controversial Issue”). The evidences demonstrate that till now, no suit of the law has been possible in reducing the increasing obesity among the individuals. It is thus the recognition of personal responsibility among the individuals that have made the changes in individuals’ behavior possible. As a matter of fact, after the fast food industry was legally threatened, bills for outlawing the lawsuits related to fast food were introduced by the US House of Representatives. But no legislation on this regard could ever pass the two Congress Houses. Thus, it is ultimately the personal responsibility of the individuals that can make the governmental motive effective. According to Thomas Bonekemper, the society is ‘litigation crazed’ and does not grant lawsuits towards food easily. But it is however the personal responsibility of the individuals which can be initiated as a key towards their diet along with exercise and other health activities positively related towards betterment of lifestyle of the individuals. Glenn Uber, the DO of the MPH Family Medicine Corbin also holds the same notion about personal responsibility of the individuals (American Diabetes Association, “Obesity Blame Game”). Conclusion Thus, the validated answer to the research question generated at the introductory stage of this paper has been found. The straightforward answer to the research question is that obesity is really a personal responsibility of the individuals. This answer has been however, derived not with respect to the effectiveness and success of the government’s policies towards abolition of unhealthy food consumption, but this answer has been empirically found with the help of data demonstrating the improved personal responsibility behavior towards consumption of healthy food. This is because, although the government has been somehow successful in reducing the provision of fast food containing unhealthy ingredients, it is the realization move of the individual that has resulted in the improved nature among them. The personal responsibility of the individuals towards obesity has also got initiated due to the fact that at a certain point of time in every individual’s life, they are ought to deal with children. This is a verse that parents care more about their children’s health than their own and at no cost can pay the price of their children’s life merely for certain negligence in their diet activities. In this case, it becomes the duty of both the government as well as the other parties associated with maintenance of good health of the individuals to provide complete information about healthy diet. It is also evident that both private and public sector players have necessarily taken up the responsibility of informing the right diet information to every individual. As a result of the effective moves by the private and public players and realized personal responsibility among the individuals, it can well be mentioned that obesity will be more importantly taken up as personal responsibility of the individuals in the coming years too. References American Diabetes Association, “Obesity Blame Game”. June 02, 2011. DOC News, 2011. Balko, Radley & Et. Al., “Are You Responsible for Your Own Weight?”. June 02, 2011. Obesity, 2004. Brownell, Kelly, D. & Et. AL., “Personal Responsibility And Obesity: A Constructive Approach To A Controversial Issue”. June 02, 2011. Health Affairs, 2010. Sallis, James, F., “Obesity: Is personal responsibility the answer?”. June 02, 2011. The San Diego Union-Tribunal, 2004. Read More