Controversial Question of Concepts of Fat and Slim - Essay Example

History Trend of Fat In the recent past, the concepts of fat and slim have become more controversial in the public domain. Sincethe year 1950, there was a prevailing belief that being fat is a symptom of unhealthiness while being thin is a symptom of being healthy and beautiful. Often, the behavioral condition of obesity has been linked to change in the eating habits from traditional foods to more technologically developed foods. The economic development in many countries has seen the lifestyles of the people change as they assimilate modern foods that nutritionists have criticized as a source of many behavioral diseases. Nutritionists link behavioral diseases such as obesity to serious conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure that today are the major killer diseases in the world. Critics of the concept of thinness have stated that the fear of growing fat has resulted to serious conditions such as anorexia among many youths today. From a critical point of view, changes in the eating patterns today are the result of increase in the diet related conditions today. In this light, it is possible to condemn modern foods as dangerous and to encourage shift towards traditional foods to promote a healthy future generation. The 21st century marks a period when the world has experienced a tremendous increase in the number of diet-related diseases in the global scope. In America, the issue of being fat was criticized from as early as 1950s especially in the film industry. The film industry criticized characters such as Marilyn Monroe as Chubby for her fat body (House of Commons Health Committee 321). This is the same historical time that the cases of diabetes, obesity, and anorexia increased sending a warning signal to the health service providers to evaluate the possible cause in this trend. For instance, between the year 1980 and 1991, the cases of obesity doubled and continued to rise (House of Commons Health Committee 321). The contemporary context of being “fat” underpins the prevalence of such diseases in the world today. Bammann and Karin et al., (1-7) conducted a research to investigate the cases of obesity among children below the age of 9 years. This is one of the researches that have been triggered by the increase in cases of obesity among young children. In this research, he found out that parents with large BMI weight were in the risk of giving birth to children who later become obese. The conclusion of this research is that parents must remain slim to ensure that their children do not become obese in future. The implication of this idea of the researcher is that the public must be conscious of their eating behaviors to ensure that they remain healthy and that their generations do not suffer from unhealthy conditions in future. While Obesity appears to be a mere physical increase, scientific research has identified that it can be a cause of health complications, which may even culminate to death. Vast research links obesity to other serious complications such as high blood pressure and cardiovascular, which claim the lives of many people today. The health statistics provided show that heart diseases are increasing every year and the mortality rate in America due to heart-related diseases are increasing rapidly. Morales, Leo et al. (197-205) in their research identified that poor eating habits are the major risk factors of hypertension and heart attacks among the American-Mexicans in the US. In 1987, the nutritionist research body identified that over 53% of deaths in women result from their obesity condition body (House of Commons Health Committee 322). They identified that obese nationalists were more likely to suffer from these conditions than thin people, which points out to the modern trend of slimming as one of the healthy behaviors in the world. Concisely, researchers have reached into a concession that there is need for the society to focus on more healthy eating habits to reduce the risk of acquiring health complications that cause early death. This implies that the society needs to rethink their eating habits if they have to remain healthy and increase their chances of remaining healthy in era of dietary transitions. Cultural changes underpin the changes in the eating habits that is evident today. Nutritionists have expressed the cultural transitions that have resulted to change of eating habits from healthy eating patterns to dangerous eating patterns. After the period of the world wars, there was cultural integration resulting to the change in eating patterns in the world. In addition, the Economic changes that resulted in the world changed the lifestyles of the people, hence affecting their eating patterns. As people moved from rural to urban areas, they change their eating patterns due to unavailability of traditional foods in these locations. They indulge in luxurious eating habits, which are characterized with high intake of foods rich in sugar content, risking them to suffer from obesity (Thoyre 46-59). The consumption of junky foods increases the body weight rapidly often resulting to overweight, especially for office workers who do little physical exercise. For instance, science has proved that soft drinks contain high levels of fructose, which is one of the major causes of obesity among adolescents in the urban areas. The development of technology has resulted to the evolution of new diets that were not evident in the traditional systems. For instance, the genetic engineering technology has resulted to development of new types of foods, which researchers have criticized on the ground that they predispose the society to healthy complications. Wansink and Pierre (12-32) terms the modern eating patterns as “mindless eating” and suggests that slim is the design that the public should focus on for the sake of their health. On this note, it is possible to associate the current healthy complications with the change in cultural eating patterns. The changes in lifestyles, eating habits and the associated health complications have led to the wakeup call that has declared the issue of “fat” an urgent issue to address. Health reformists have taken position in the frontline in the war against heart attacks and hypertensions, conditions that they have come to associate with poor eating habits. In 1998, the world health organization asserted that there was need for the public to watch out their eating habits for the health of the society body (House of Commons Health Committee 321). They have emphasized on lower caloric foods to avoid the chances of becoming obese. The nutritionists have joined in the war by developing new eating patterns and in creating awareness against junk foods that are dangerous to the life of the public (Bahl 173-184). In addition, these bodies are encouraging the public to revert to traditional foods, which are healthy and less likely to cause diet related diseases. It is recommendable that the public learn to indulge in physical activities to lose excessive fat and to develop standard BMI weights that will not only save them but also their future generations. The war against genetic engineering is evidence of the political consciousness of the ill effects of technological changes that are resulting to development of health risking diets (Kabadayi 248). The seriousness of the war against unhealthy eating habits confirms that there is need for the society to avoid getting “fat” and resort to diets and physical activities that encourage slim body configurations. In conclusion, it is clear that obesity is a condition that is dangerous and that the public should work on slim bodies to avoid health complications. Fat people are more prone to obesity, which predisposes them to serious diseases such hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Cultural changes have resulted in change in the dietary patterns making people resort to more unhealthy eating behavior patterns. For instance, people have replaced health foods with junky foods and soft drinks that nutritionists condemn for high caloric values. Technological advances have resulted to development of unhealthy foods in the society. As a result, the 21st century has experienced an increase in the number of diet related diseases in the health records. On this note, the government, social organizations and nutritionists have launched a war to discourage the fat trend that has resulted to the increase in deadly health complication in the society. Their main agenda is to encourage the society to resort to more healthy foods to promote healthy living conditions within the community. In addition, they have emphasized the need for regular physical exercises to cut down fats, which accumulates due to high intake of sugars and low utilization of fat within the body. Therefore, the concept of being fat is a contemporary issue that the world has formulated from the danger associated with poor eating behavior. Works Cited Bahl, Shalini, et al. "Mindfulness: A Long-Term Solution For Mindless Eating By College Students." Journal Of Public Policy & Marketing 32.2 (2013): 173-184. Business Source Complete. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. Bammann, Karin, et al. "Early Life Course Risk Factors For Childhood Obesity: The IDEFICS Case-Control Study." Plos ONE 9.2 (2014): 1-7. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. House of Commons Health Committee. Obesity; Oral and Written Evidence. London: Stationery Office, 2004. Print. Kabadayi, Menderes. "The Effect Of Sleep, Sports And Dietary Habits On Obesity In Adolescents." International Journal Of Academic Research 5.4 (2013): 247-252. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. Morales, Leo S., et al. "Risk Factors For Cardiovascular Disease Among Mexican-American Adults In The United States And Mexico: A Comparative Study." Salud Pública De México 56.2 (2014): 197-205. Business Source Complete. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. Thoyre, Suzanne M., et al. "Development And Content Validation Of The Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool (Pedi-EAT)." American Journal Of Speech-Language Pathology 23.1 (2014): 46-59. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Apr. 2014 Wansink, Brian, and Pierre Chandon. "Slim By Design: Redirecting The Accidental Drivers Of Mindless Overeating." INSEAD Working Papers Collection 4 (2014): 1-54. Business Source Complete. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. Read More