Obesity and overweight have become a significantly huge problem all over the world. This has been experienced in many countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and other nations in the world. The problem of obesity is no longer a problem in developed countries, developing countries are also experiencing growth in obesity rates. Obesity and overweight are serious concerns because they are associated with the increased risk of several diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and stroke. The problem of obesity in the world can be understood by comparing obesity rates and cultural factors in different countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan and identifying the social determinants and causal factors contributing to the global spread of obesity.
Obesity Rates in the World
The obesity rates in the world have been the highest and have been increasing over the years. In the year 2015, there were 603.7 million adults and 107.7 million adults throughout the world that were obese. The prevalence of obesity in more than 70 countries has doubled and increased in several other countries. While the prevalence of obesity among children is slow, the rate of increase in obesity among children is higher than that of adults (“GBD 2015 Obesity Collaborators”, 2017). The statistics are alarming and present a global concern over the prevalence and increasing rate of obesity.
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Obesity Rates in the US, UK, and Japan
The United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan are ideal for comparison because they are in different geographical locations and have different cultural traditions. According to the OECD Obesity Update 2017 Report (2017), the United States had the highest rate of obesity in the world with a prevalence of 38.2%. The UK had a prevalence of 26.9% while Japan had a prevalence of 3.7%, the lowest of the OECD countries. The projected rates of obesity are expected to grow to 47% in the United States, 35% in the United Kingdom, and 9% in Japan. The rates of obesity were expected to rise in all the countries and this raises concern in different parts of the world.
Cultural Differences
The different rates of obesity in different countries can be understood by looking at the cultural differences in the countries. Obesity rates in the United States and the United Kingdom are high because they have access to ready meals and high-calorie fast food that is cheap. Fast food is plentiful in the countries and the elements of a healthy and balanced diet are difficult to find and expensive.
The low rates of obesity in Japan can be alluded to the Japanese culture that favors food that has fewer calories and less fat compared to that of the US and the UK. The Japanese diet emphasizes fish, vegetables, and rice that has very little fat and maintains a pattern of low-calorie consumption (Freedman, 2016). The traditional diet in Japanese culture has helped in maintaining a healthier and thinner population compared to other developed and industrialized countries. However, Japanese culture is also changing and adapting fast foods leading to increasing rates of obesity.
Contributing Factors to Worldwide Obesity Rates
The contributing factors to the high rates of obesity in the world can be attributed to the adoption of Western dietary habits and poor exercising habits. Sahoo et al. (2015) observed that lifestyle preferences, cultural environment, and environmental factors contribute to the rising rates of obesity. Dietary factors are based on fast food consumption, snack foods, and sugary beverages. Foods served in fast-food restaurants usually have a high-calorie count and low nutritional value. Lifestyle factors include the sedentary lifestyle where many people take several hours of television and engage in work that does not require much movement.
Social Determinants
Social determinants are one of the factors that have resulted in increased obesity. The current society mostly uses food as a reward and an integral part of socializing. Fast food restaurants are destinations for socializing and have had a significant increase in the number of customers over the past years. Junk food is also associated with convenience, pleasure, and independence while healthy food is considered odd. Lakerveld and Mackenbach (2017) observe that socioeconomic differences also contribute to obesity where individuals in developed countries that have a low socioeconomic status have a high prevalence of obesity.
Causal or Associative Factors
The causal factor that has resulted in an increased rate of obesity is globalization. The world obesity rates have increased since the 1980s and this was the time when the trend of globalization grew significantly (Fox et al., 2019). Globalization has made it possible for multinational food corporations to expand their fast-food restaurants. Western-style fast food outlets have entered almost every international market in different parts of the world. Fox et al. (2019) further observed that the global increase in obesity can be as a result of increased economic development, women empowerment, and urbanization.
In conclusion, the global rates of obesity have increased significantly over the past few decades throughout the world. The United States and the United Kingdom have had the highest rates of obesity due to a poor dietary and sedentary lifestyle. Japan has low rates of obesity which can be attributed to its traditional diet with low calories. Other factors that have resulted in an increase in the global rates of obesity are social and economic factors. Social factors have resulted in social pressure where fast foods are associated with independence and pleasure. Globalization and economic growth have made it possible for the spread of western culture associated with fast foods and a sedentary lifestyle.
References
Fox, A., Feng, W., & Asal, V. (2019). What is driving global obesity trends? Globalization or “modernization”? Globalization and health , 15 (1), 32.
Freedman, I. (2016). Cultural specificity in food choice–The case of ethnography in Japan. Appetite , 96 , 138-146.
GBD 2015 Obesity Collaborators. (2017). Health effects of overweight and obesity in 195 countries over 25 years. New England Journal of Medicine , 377 (1), 13-27.
Lakerveld, J., & Mackenbach, J. (2017). The upstream determinants of adult obesity. Obesity Facts , 10 (3), 216-222.
Obesity Update 2017 Report. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Obesity-Update-2017.pdf
Sahoo, K., Sahoo, B., Choudhury, A. K., Sofi, N. Y., Kumar, R., & Bhadoria, A. S. (2015). Childhood obesity: causes and consequences. Journal of family medicine and primary care , 4 (2), 187.
