2020

Obesity

FINAL PROJECT: PART ONE

ALI ALABDULLAITF
History: Obesity is being known as being a very common form of illness and history shows

the statistics are rising as evident in this quote, ““In 1995, there were an estimated 200

million obese adults worldwide. However, by the year 2000 the number had grown to 300

million and has continued to increase since then.” (Agha and Agha, 2017). An increase of

100 million people becoming Obese over the course of 5 years is very alarming. There are a

number of reasons why Obesity is impacting society on such a large scale. Research shows

that there have been no major changes in the total energy and fat intake within the last few

decades; this evidence points towards the fact that lack of physical activity has played a

major role in the rise of Obesity. Technological advance have led to increased reliance on

machines to do work and energy consumption is not a big part of society’s daily lives. (HILL

& MELANSON, 1999).

Historical sources are in line with the above mentioned research. History shows that Obesity

is a relatively new problem for humanity; back in the day food was scarce and only the

wealthy had access to abundance of food leading to Obesity which was a status symbol as

recognized in many historical artifact such as arts, literature and medical knowledge of the

time before WW2. Moreover, physical activity was much higher than now with the lack of

modes of transportation. Furthermore, technological advancements made it much easier to

produce large amounts of food in short amount of time. Initially, the technological advances

led to society being healthier and living longer lives, however, within the last century Obesity

has been recognized as a chronic disease being connected to increased mortality rates and

socially looked down upon. (Eknoyan, 2006).

(Agha and Agha, 2017) suggests that rising obesity rates can result in increased medical aid

provided to obese individuals in countries where healthcare is provided by the government;

rising obesity rates significantly increase the healthcare costs. In addition to government costs
related to healthcare, rates of unemployment, inefficiency of employees, bad quality of living

also increase due to obesity. (Agha and Agha, 2017).

Humanities: Obesity is used in a number of ways in culture and art. For example, Obesity is

used for comic relief. Ridiculing an obese person is a known comical phenomenon evident in

numerous shows such as “The Biggest Loser”, “More to Love”, and “Dance Your Ass Off”.

As the names might describe, the shows are based on the idea that humiliating a fat person is

somehow hilarious in our culture. This phenomenon has the “Fattertainment”. Moreover, in

40 % of children’s movies at least one fat person is despised and in 50% of the movies, fat

characters are shown thinking about food. One could argue that movies is where little

children learn that fat people are to be made fun of. (Heuer, 2010)

Obesity is also associated with being “scary” or “dangerous” in addition to being funny in the

media. For example, King Pin is one of the most dangerous characters in Marvel comics and

he is Obese. Similarly, icons like Fat Joe, Notorious BIG, and Mark Henry (the world’s

strongest man) are Obese; these characters demand power and respect. (Smithsonian

Magazine, 2009).

Lastly, I would like to consider the fashion world to shed light on the biggest reason why

being fat is looked down upon. NYFW and fashion shows in Milan almost always have very

skinny models males and females. In a way you can say most clothes are made for people in

shape as all the companies models are skinny which are representing the clothes. We find

emphasis on nutrition and health all around America, society is getting obsessed with losing

weight is evidence that society values being skinny more than being obese. Being skinny is

mistaken for being healthy and although it makes sense it is not always the case. Such

mentality affects the self-esteem of individuals who are on the heavier side and have people

feeling inferior physically and socially. (McQuallin, 2016). This shows why people in movies
and TV series are almost always thin and follow the norm that thinness equals more

attractive.

References:

Agha, M. and Agha, R. (2017). The rising prevalence of obesity. International Journal of

Surgery Oncology, 2(7), p.e17.

Eknoyan, G. (2006). A History of Obesity, or How What Was Good Became Ugly and Then

Bad. Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease, 13(4), pp.421-427.

HILL, J., & MELANSON, E. (1999). Overview of the determinants of overweight and

obesity: current evidence and research issues. Medicine & Science In Sports &

Exercise, 31(Supplement 1). doi: 10.1097/00005768-199911001-00005

McQuallin, S. (2016). How Your Culture Affects Your Weight. [online] Psychology Today.

Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cravings/201605/how-your-culture-

affects-your-weight [Accessed 16 Jan. 2020].

Smithsonian Magazine. (2009). The Culture of Obesity. [online] Available at:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-culture-of-obesity-62682378/ [Accessed

15 Jan. 2020].

Heuer, C. (2010). "Fattertainment" - Obesity in the Media - Obesity Action Coalition. Retrieved 1

February 2020, from https://www.obesityaction.org/community/article-library/fattertainment-obesity-in-

the-media/