Obesity is one of the most important public health problems facing humanity these days. It is a medical condition described for the first time in the eighteenth century of recent history where the «corpulence» (word of the epoch to name the «obesity») was indicated as a result of a sedentary lifestyle and the frequent intake of foods such as sweets, fats, and substances rich in oil (Short, 1728). However, the problem has become a major issue due to the eating habits deterioration and the unhealthy lifestyle of people. What is the real prevalence of obesity in society, and how could this illness be treated? This essay will look at the relevance of this problem, its consequences, and how it could be faced by people and governments.
Firstly, obesity is a complex condition with serious social and psychological dimensions, that affects virtually all age and socioeconomic groups in both developed and developing countries (World Health Organization, 2003). In fact, the worldwide prevalence of obesity nearly tripled between 1975 and 2016, with more than 1.9 billion adults aged 18 years and older overweight, and 41 million children under the age of 5 years overweight or obese. Furthermore, that condition stopped being an exclusive high-income countries problem and now is on the rise in low- and middle-income regions, as it could be evidenced, with particularly relevant cases such as Libya in Africa, where the prevalence of obesity in adult males in 2014 was between 20% and 25%.
The fundamental cause of obesity and overweight is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended (World Health Organization, 2018). It commonly occurs because of an increased intake of energy-dense foods that are high in fat; an increase in physical inactivity due to the increasingly sedentary nature of many forms of work, changing modes of transportation, and increasing urbanization; and in some cases, because of the lack of supportive policies in sectors such as health, agriculture, transport, urban planning, environment, food processing, distribution, marketing, and education.
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The problem is now highly relevant due to its health effects over the population, since it reduces the life expectancy of people (Roth et al., 2004, p. 88S), increments the risk of cardiac, rheumatological, digestive and endocrine disorders (e.g. type 2 diabetes), and also deteriorates the psycho-affective and labor relations of obese people. From an economic perspective, obesity represents a significant decrease in productivity of adult people and also an import spent of resources to cover the health care of population with that illness.
In consideration of the above points, and many others, the World Health Organization has considered obesity as «a twenty first century epidemic» and it is leading an international call to fight against overweight and obesity together with various institutions and scientific societies.
Throughout recent years, taxation on sugar sweetened beverages and junk food had been considered by many countries as a solution alternative to control obesity, however they have no successfully achieved their goal and the illness is still present into the society. Thus, nowadays it has begun to look with special attention to the education like an alternative to promote healthy lifestyle and to fight against obesity. In that context it is clear that governments must seek for sustained implementation of policies that make regular physical activity and healthier dietary choices available, affordable and easily accessible to everyone, particularly to the poorest individuals (World Health Organization, 2018).
In conclusion, this essay has looked at the obesity problem, its consequences, and how it could be faced. Obesity is a very large and complex evil related both to dietary factors and to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle that currently afflicts almost all societies in the world. However, despite the significant number of people affected by the illness and the population’s risk of death progressively increased by overweight and obesity, the issue and its related diseases are largely preventable.
