America Obesity Epidemic?

People often talk about obesity being an epidemic. As if there was something in the water that was somehow making us all larger. Recently, in the news there was a story about how Americans are now 20 pounds heavier than they were 20 years ago. The average weight for men is around 196 and 160 for woman (note these figures are self reported). Around 62% of Americans are overweight or obese. You have to be careful because many times people are overweight or obese as defined by BMI (Body Mass Index). This can be misleading because some people have more muscle which makes it appear they are overweight. There is a prediction that by 2030 more than ½ of Americans will be obese. The problem with this prediction is trends don’t persist forever. People start to wake up and realize they are overweight and start working out and start to eat more sensibly. The problem is often is it hard to keep up this up. There are predictions that life expectancy will decrease in the coming years because we have so many overweight people.

Many people have tried to pinpoint the causes of the rise in weight gain. Some people blame genes, shifts in the role of work lives, and individual choices. Blaming genes to me is a red herring. I would agree that some people might carry genes that could make them more likely to be heavy but I don’t think somehow overnight genes just made people bigger. A better explanation might be because of the changes in the role of the family. Years ago most housewives cooked nightly meals for the family. Times changed and housewives moved into the labor force. This would allow less time for making home cooked meals like in the good old days. Today, it seems as if people get more take out, fast food, or pick up pre-made meals from the store. According to a survey done by CBS in 2005 21% of families ate out at restaurants 2-3 nights a week. Around 17% of people ate fast food 2-3 nights per week. Years ago people rarely went out to a restaurant to eat (usually it was for a special occasion). Fast food companies like McDonalds, KFC, and even Taco Bell were are formed before the 1970’s but people didn’t really start eating at these places until the 1980’s and 1990’s.

However, what I find interesting is why everyone is so worried about how much other people weigh. Shouldn’t we be more concerned about our own health? Somehow people think overweight or obese people are a problem. If anything it helps non-overweight/obese people because it makes them relatively more attractive. I suppose people don’t like the “externality” of looking at large people (which I am sympathetic to). However, people should be able to eat and drink what they want. We all should have the freedom to choose what we put into our bodies. After all we own our own body.