Part 1: A Common Enemy
Rising obesity rates have become a serious public health concern in the United States. A decade ago, no single state had an obesity rate above 35 percent. In 2023, the national obesity rate among adults was recorded at 41.9 percent, while the national obesity rate among children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 has more than tripled since the 1970’s to now over 20 percent(Deedwania and Lavie). This raises a number of concerns: How did we get to this point? What are the associated health related and economic costs? Who is most affected by obesity and why? And finally, what can potentially be done to remedy this issue?
Throughout my research on this topic, I discovered that there is a significant hurdle when it comes to finding accurate information, which can make it incredibly difficult for those who desire to make a change to do so effectively, meanwhile the sea of misinformation can dissuade many obese individuals from even seeking to make a change in the first place. Because of this, I will first present the facts to counter common misinformation and support my argument that the “fat acceptance” movement is harmful to the individual and society as a whole. However, I do acknowledge that facts alone will not solve this issue, and my intention is not only to educate, but to find common ground that will bring us closer to a healthier and more prosperous future for all Americans. I wish not to alienate the very audience I hope to persuade, so I will pay careful attention to nuance and account for other perspectives, while giving my take on how we might move towards a solution.
First off, the rising rates of obesity are primarily due to our increasingly obesogenic environment. People are living far more sedentary lifestyles, exercising and moving less in their day to day lives, are addicted to inexpensive, non-physical entertainment and heavily processed, highly-palatable, calorically dense foods, and they are often encouraged to maintain these behaviors through the constant advertisements and media they consume, especially via social media apps like Tik Tok and Instagram. This is problematic, as the promotion and acceptance of obesity online inadvertently encourages unhealthy lifestyles, whether or not creators directly tell their audience how to live. Studies show that obesity is linked to an array of disorders, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, respiratory issues, liver disease, joint problems like osteoporosis and arthritis, gastrointestinal issues, kidney disease, mental health disorders, reproductive issues, metabolic syndrome, cancer, and unsurprisingly, lower life expectancy. Promoting acceptance clearly discourages people from pursuing healthier habits and seeking more desirable health outcomes in light of the correlation between rising obesity rates and the development of the body positivity movement, and later the fat acceptance movement.(Meldrum et al.)
Before proceeding, I must make a relevant distinction. There is a fine line between the body positivity movement, which began as a way of encouraging people to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin, and the fat acceptance movement. While body positivity is, in essence, a valuable concept, celebrating obesity is not beneficial. While we should certainly encourage people to accept and cherish their bodies, because we only get one, truly loving your body means taking care of it and ensuring its longevity, and considering the health ramifications that come with obesity, fat acceptance arguably does not align with the essence of body positivity, although the two often get lumped together. No matter what your weight is, you should love and respect your body, but if you are obese, this means taking action to improve your health by losing weight, rather than simply accepting it as is. As I will expand on later, this can be much more difficult for some individuals than others for a variety of reasons, and some may need assistance to make their efforts worthwhile, which is an important consideration. But any effort, no matter how small, is better than simply accepting the lower quality of life that comes with less than ideal physical and mental health.
Studies also show a strong correlation between individuals who are obese as children and who develop mental health issues later in life. Poor mental health, which is a concern on its own, can also exacerbate the physical health issues caused by obesity. Research shows that the earlier and longer individuals participate in unhealthy habits, and are led to believe that their behavior is normal and acceptable, the more difficult it is for them to break these habits later in life to secure a better future for their minds and bodies, making it of even greater importance that we protect children from obesity. (Small et al.)
Obesity also comes with significant economic costs. In 2016, a study published in the PubMed National Library of medicine found that obesity related expenditures had grown to $260.6B, with obese individuals paying on average $2,505, or 100 percent, more annually than normal weight individuals. (Cawley et al.) Not only does this place a financial burden on the individual who must pay a portion of the cost out of pocket, but it places an enormous burden on the healthcare system overall and has trickle-down effects to all members of society. This burden is only increasing as obesity rates continue to climb, imposing an even greater deadweight loss and economic burden that all members of society must bear. Additionally, obese people miss 56 percent more work days than healthy individuals due to their condition, severely impacting the productivity of the companies they work for, and ultimately raising prices for the average consumer. On another note, a Forbes analysis compared the average weight in America in the 1960’s to 2008, and found that the 24-pound increase was costing airlines an additional $538 million annually in fuel alone to carry the additional weight, raising the cost of airfare for all. (Mead et al.) These are just a few examples of the economic consequences that come with rising obesity rates, but there are countless others. Clearly, from an economic standpoint, it is our imperative as a collective to reduce national obesity rates to promote financial well-being.
Having outlined the health related and economic costs associated with obesity, I must acknowledge some common misconceptions and nuances that make this issue all the more complex. First, Body Mass Index(BMI), which is the most common metric for determining obesity, can be incredibly inaccurate, and this can lead to critical misconceptions. BMI does not take into account body composition, or in other words, it does not differentiate between a person’s muscle mass and fat mass. Because muscle is about 15 percent denser than fat, two people with the same BMI can have considerably different body compositions and can display equally different health markers. BMI also does not account for body fat distribution. There are two forms of fat, visceral and subcutaneous. Visceral fat is located deep within the abdominal cavity, surrounding vital organs. Subcutaneous fat, on the other hand, is found just beneath the skin. While an excess of either can have negative health consequences, because of its proximity to internal organs, excess visceral fat can have a more direct impact on organ function, and is more likely to lead to chronic inflammation and insulin resistance. As an alternative to BMI, I propose we use body fat percentage as our medical metric going forward. While this is harder to test for precisely, doctors should have sufficient knowledge and training to be able to identify body fat percentages within a margin of error reasonable enough to make medical determinations simply by looking at a patient, and this metric is far more realistic and applicable than BMI at determining whether someone is a healthy weight or obese.
Another very important, and often emotionally charged nuance that must be addressed is related to personal accountability. While it is an indisputable scientific fact that any individual consuming less calories than they expend will lose body fat, there are other factors that go into the long-term treatment of obesity, and simply blaming the individual for a lack of personal accountability and telling them to simply “eat less and move more” is often quite ineffective at producing desired results. Environmental, economic, and social factors play a huge role from a young age in determining a person’s lifestyle and body composition, and this must be carefully considered when treating patients with obesity. Because of these external factors, it is often not the individual’s fault that they became obese, and shaming them for their decisions is not a productive way of helping them.
On a similar note, individuals in minority groups and lower income populations are far more susceptible to obesity. One reason for this is because healthier lifestyles are typically more expensive and time-consuming, and additional time and money are luxuries that people in these groups disproportionately do not have. Another explanation is that factors like genetic metabolic disorders, which have recently been a topic of increasing consideration in the scientific community, or mental health issues like eating disorders, which are often closely intertwined with severe cases of obesity, require additional resources and attention. For some individuals, this can include medical intervention like bariatric surgery or drugs like Ozempic on the physical front, and therapy on the psychological. For some individuals, no matter what efforts they take on their own, without the assistance from educated professionals, they will seemingly never be able to meet and sustain their weight loss goals. For less financially fortunate people, this can often trap them in a vicious cycle, where they know they should make a change, but feel helpless to do so. This may be because they’ve tried losing weight before and failed, do not have access to assistance, or simply are not equipped with the right information, so ultimately they bear the burden of their condition on their own and choose to just accept it rather than continually fight it to no avail. So while it is true that a calorie deficit is the key to weight loss, this is much easier said than done for some. Telling individuals with underlying physical or mental disorders, who potentially lack access to assistance from professionals, that they are just lazy and lack accountability is the wrong approach to helping them break the cycle of obesity.
Ultimately, in order to make a long-lasting impact on the upward trend in obesity, we must tackle the issue at its core. Studies have shown that obesity prevention initiatives are cheaper and far more effective at reducing obesity when compared to treatment programs. While medical and therapeutic interventions are sometimes necessary to help certain individuals with severe cases or underlying conditions, they are not accessible to everyone, and are ultimately band-aid solutions for a broader issue. We must help people who are already obese to lose weight, change the way our food is marketed and produced, and develop a culture that promotes healthy living overall. Our parents, school systems, health insurance companies, government, and communities must all work together to achieve these goals. (Mead et al.)
I believe the solution must start with parents and schools, as children are most heavily impacted by obesity, are more prone to developing life-long habits that will exacerbate and solidify the condition, and have the least accountability in their own weight gain. Parents must take more responsibility in educating themselves and their children about proper nutrition, and should pressure and encourage schools to educate students and serve healthier food in cafeterias and vending machines.
Additionally, I believe health insurance companies should charge higher premiums to obese individuals, the same way they do for smokers, as both cohorts consume more than their share of benefits. This will incentivize obese people to make a change, but keeping in mind those who suffer from legitimate psychological or genetic disorders that make it harder for them to lose weight, health insurance companies should provide support for the necessary resources to these individuals, given that they are actively seeking to make a change. Ultimately, while this will come at a cost to insurance companies in the short term, the higher premiums will offset this cost, and increased overall health will reduce their risk in the long-term.
Our government at the federal, state and city level must play a role too. The federal government could increase requirements regarding health information and food labels, tax unhealthy foods the same way we tax cigarettes, tax farmers who grow crops used to mass-produce unhealthy foods, and provide grants to stores in low-income communities so that they can afford to sell and display healthier items and fresh produce at affordable prices. State and city governments should provide support to local farmers and farmers markets to allow them to sell produce at prices low enough to attract members of low-income communities. Finally, cities should develop behavioral weight-loss programs, especially in low-income neighborhoods, where members of the community can come together to discuss health, nutrition, and weight loss efforts openly, without fear of judgment.
At the end of the day, there is no one solution to the obesity epidemic, and efforts to combat it will be complicated and multi-faceted. But to make any progress, we must first acknowledge the facts and reject the notion that individuals can be healthy at any size and should simply accept their body no matter the ramifications. Obesity causes harm to everyone, not just the people who suffer from it directly. Following the basis of the body positivity movement, we should all love and want the best for our bodies and minds, and this ultimately means pursuing a healthy body fat percentage. This may be a more difficult endeavor for some than others, but as a collective, if we can recognize obesity as our common enemy and work together to reduce its impact on our bodies, minds, and wallets, we can secure a brighter, healthier, and longer future for all Americans.
Works Cited
Cawley J, Biener A, Meyerhoefer C, Ding Y, Zvenyach T, Smolarz BG, Ramasamy A. “Direct medical costs of obesity in the United States and the most populous states.” J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2021 Mar;27(3):354-366. doi: 10.18553/jmcp.2021.20410. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33470881/
Mead, Andy, and Sutton Stokes. How Should We Reduce Obesity in America?, National Issues Forums Institute, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/socal/detail.action?docID=4697978.
Deedwania P, Lavie CJ. Dangers and Long-Term Outcomes in Metabolically Healthy Obesity: The Impact of the Missing Fitness Component. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2018;71(17):1866-1868. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2018.02.057
Meldrum DR, Morris MA, Gambone JC. Obesity pandemic: causes, consequences, and solutions—but do we have the will? Fertility and sterility. 2017;107(4):833-839. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2017.02.104
https://www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy2.usc.edu/science/article/pii/S0015028217302236
Small L, Aplasca A. Child Obesity and Mental Health. A Complex Interaction. Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America. 2016;25(2):269-282. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2015.11.008
Part 2
The rising obesity rates in the United States have become a significant public health concern, with serious implications for both individual well-being and societal economic costs. In order to address this complex issue effectively, it was crucial that I select an appropriate genre for communicating and advocating for change. I felt I should include an argumentative portion in the beginning where I laid out the facts at my disposal, both from my prior knowledge, as well as from the research I conducted in WP2. I wanted to be sure to not alienate members of my audience, so I addressed nuances related to my argument, and then laid out solutions to the issue at the end of the paper. Ultimately, my aim was persuasive, so that is the genre I chose, although there are elements of an informative essay as well, as I used facts not only with the hopes of persuading, but also potentially educating my audience and filling in gaps of knowledge if there were any.
The persuasive essay genre seemed to be the most practical way to present a structured, evidence-based argument that has the potential to influence readers to consider the issue seriously and support the solutions I proposed. This genre allowed me to systematically examine facts, present my argument, and advocate for policy changes and behavioral shifts, while remaining clear, concise, and accessible to a broad audience.
Ideally, persuasive essays follow stylistic and formatting conventions that help convey information effectively by being well-organized and engaging for readers. Typically, they begin with a clear and engaging introduction that presents the issue and highlights its significance. They usually include a thesis statement that previews the main arguments and talking points to be presented. My essay opens with a clear introduction that outlines the severity of the obesity epidemic and its implications, and then sets the stage for my subsequent arguments.
Following the thesis statement is the body of the essay, which is divided into paragraphs, each focusing on a specific argument or piece of evidence. This is where the writer uses logical reasoning, examples, statistics, and expert opinions to support the argument laid out in their thesis. Throughout my paper, each paragraph focuses on a specific aspect of the obesity problem, presenting evidence to support each facet of my argument.
Next, an effective persuasive essay must acknowledge opposing viewpoints and discuss the nuances of its own argument. If a persuasive essay does not include this, it communicates to the audience that the writer either does not have a sufficient understanding of the complexity of the issue to address other viewpoints, or is simply biased and does not wish to look at the bigger picture. I was sure to include a counter to a common opinion held by those on my side of the argument, which is the notion that obesity is caused by lifestyle choices alone, and therefore that all obese people should be blamed or shamed for factors out of their control. My goal with this was to ensure that the audience knew my intention, which was not to point fingers and put obese people down, but rather to shine light on all of the complex economic, social, environmental, and personal factors that have created and perpetuated this issue. I wanted to highlight the fact that this issue affects all of us, and we must all show empathy and come together to work towards solutions.
A persuasive essay usually concludes by briefly summarizing the key arguments and restating the thesis. It often ends with a call to action or a compelling closing statement that encourages the reader to consider the proposed solutions, which I feel I gave. Finally, persuasive essays use proper citations and references to support their arguments, which demonstrates the reliance on credible sources and helps further convince the reader of the argument’s validity.
One of the benefits of a persuasive essay is that it can address a very diverse range of audiences, depending on the author’s intention. The choice of the persuasive essay genre allows the writer to tailor the message to reach a broad spectrum of readers who may have different levels of familiarity with the topic. This inclusivity is vital when addressing a public health issue like obesity. I wanted to address the broadest audience possible and explain my arguments in simple enough terms that they could be understood by anyone, as my entire argument is that obesity is a national issue that affects everyone, so no one should be excluded from the discourse. My intended audience includes the general public, parents, educators, healthcare professionals, policymakers, community leaders, and anyone else interested.
In conclusion, I elected the persuasive essay genre because I felt it was the most logical way to address the obesity epidemic. This genre allowed me to present an argument, use evidence to support it, acknowledge counterarguments, and engage a diverse audience. By adhering to the genre's conventions, I aimed to communicate the urgency of the issue, support my argument against fat acceptance with evidence, and encourage the audience to take collective action to create change.