During the last four decades, the US has been in the media regarding the number of its citizens who are obese. Since the 1980s, the number of obese people globally has more than doubled. It is estimated that about 33% of the global population is either obese or overweight (Ogden et al., 2016). Various studies indicate that the United States has the highest numbers of obese and overweight individuals globally (Shin, Bohra, Kongpakpaisarn, & Lee, 2018: Hales et al., 2016). Hales et al (2016) further highlight that 71% of the men and 62% of the women in the country are obese or overweight. The interesting aspect is that waistlines in the US begin increasing at an early age, at about 29% of the boys and 30% of the girls compared to 14.2% and 14.7% respectively in the world (Hales et al., 2016). With this growing number of obese people, there has been an increase in research to find reasons for the growing trend. There is lack of consensus on the major cause of the increasing incidences obesity in the US, but research suggests that there are various factors that could be contributing to the national epidemic (Skinner et al., 2018). This paper seeks to provide a detailed exploration on why many American citizens are becoming obese.
Obesity rates in the United States have been increasing for the last 100 years. The rates have increased by more than 200% during the last 35 years, with more than 50% of Americans being obese or overweight. The worrying aspect is that the severe obesity rates have increased by more than 300% during this period. With 17% of the young Americans being identified as obese and overweight, there is more concern that the rates will not decline soon. The concern has resulted in more attention on the need to identify the causes of weight gain among Americans. Some argue that weight gain is caused by energy imbalance; the intake of calories is higher than the rate at which they are burnt. The assumption is that Americans consume excess food but do not engage in exercise to burn the extra calories consumed (Nash & Kresler, 2016). However, some believe that it is too simplistic to shift blame of the obesity epidemic in the US to only people consuming too much food. Other authors believe that obesity is the interplay of various complex factors including psychological, cultural, socioeconomic, environmental, genetic, metabolic and hormonal factors. The next section seeks to examine both sides of the argument: the pro sedentary lifestyles and food intake arguments.
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The cause of high obesity rates in the US remains a contentious issue. Pozza and Isidori (2018) contend that obesity is caused by various factors including hormones, genetics and the environment. They believe that some people are more vulnerable to become obese compared to others. This implies that children whose parents are obese have more likelihood of becoming obese compared to lean parents’ children. However, they emphasize that this does not imply that obesity and weight gain are entirely predetermined. The overall argument is that genetic components influence one’s vulnerability to gaining weight. Meldrum, Morris, and Gambone (2017) argue that obesity has increasingly become a pandemic because of the obesogenic environment characterized by cheap calorie dense food, sedentary lifestyles, nonphysical entertainment and emphasis on the intake of low fats that leads to more consumption of sugar and simple carbohydrate. The study emphasizes that engineered junk foods are often cheap and taste incredibly. Increasing the taste of foods has led to more sales, thus resulting in overeating (Aguilera, 2018). The reliance on junk foods is a major cause of obesity in the US as people have become hooked to these foods. In other words, the argument is that today’s American stores have been filled with processed foods that attract people because of their tastes and prices, thus encouraging overeating. The other causes of obesity in the US, according to Romieu et al (2017), are unbalanced energy intake and poor quality diet. The study proposes that dietary patterns that resonate with the traditional Mediterranean diet could lead to long-term management of weight. Weight control could also be reduced through the reduced intake of sugar-sweetened beverages. The authors also acknowledge that genetic factors cannot solely affect personal responses to weight gain and obesity. The other factors that the study highlights are food addictions, insulin, certain medications, leptin resistance, food availability, sugar and misinformation.
The counterargument for the increasing incidences of obesity is that there has been an increase in sedentary lifestyles. Nash and Kressler (2016) argue that sedentary lifestyles have significantly changed people’s lives. Many people who have sedentary lifestyles are overweight and obese. The assumption is that many Americans have stopped engaging in any form of physical activity, thus becoming more obese (Barnes, 2012). Nash and Kresller (2016) emphasize this argument by stating that many Americans are less physically active compared to the past. Some examples are the sedentary nature of work, lack of daily exercises in schools, more time watching television and the increased use of computers. However, opponents of this argument believe that only engaging in physical activity without reducing the calorie intake and improving diet will not result in long-term loss of weight. From the two arguments, the argument is that obesity has been caused by less a combination of various factors. The counterargument is that the increased sedentary lifestyles contribute to the increasing obesity epidemic. The conclusion that could be made about the situation is that obesity has been caused by sedentary lifestyles and the combination of various factors.
The common argument is that sedentary lifestyles or the interplay of the various factors identified cause obesity, which results in heart related conditions and death. This is cultural bias which suggests that “sedentary lifestyle leads to obesity, obesity leads to cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular diseases lead to death.” This is one of the strategies used by the media through a strategy called amplification to cause moral panic and ensure that news about obesity becomes an alarm. This weakens the position since people develop fear instead of becoming informed about the obesity epidemic. The argument that obesity is the major contributor to poor health obscures the numerous behavioural traits that lead to obesity and poor health outcomes. This means that not only excess fat is harmful, but also behavioural traits leading to weight gain. The other rhetorical device is the personal bias, which is defined as having negative attitudes towards the beliefs and values of others because of their weight. The media portrays those who are overweight as lazy in nature. This leads to stigma in the society because of the role played by the media in informing the public. It weakens the confidence of obese people as they try to find solutions to their weight problem (Alberga et al., 2016).
The final rhetorical device is fallacies about obesity that may be contributing to persistence of the problem. A fallacy is defined as a mistaken belief, particularly one that is founded on assumptions. One of the common fallacies regarding obesity is that food diets could aid obese people in losing weight and keeping it off. The second common fallacy is that counting calories is great for facilitating weight loss. The two fallacies may be relied on by some people who are struggling with the obesity problem. Ultimately, people develop the belief that there is no way they could successfully drop their weight and maintain it. The third fallacy is that today, numerous weight loss programs as well as clinics could permanently enable people to lose weight (Guthman, 2011). Some people may believe in this fallacy and even avoid taking healthy foods and engaging in exercise because of the presumption that there are programs and clinics that will help them take care of their weight when they become obese. The other fallacy which is among the arguments by researchers is that the weight problem is mainly caused by overeating and the lack of physical activity alone. This restrains people from understanding the real causes of obesity, thus makes them to struggle for a long period in trying to understand their situation and resolve it. The final fallacy is that if one could only lose weight and become slim, they could maintain their weight in the long-term (Guthman, 2011). As such, a critical thinker should approach the obesity issue with a lot of care because of the biases, rhetorical techniques and fallacies used in generating some of the arguments. It is fallacious for obese people to rely on arguments that have not been proven through empirical research.
Finally, regarding gatekeeping, dieting and involving in preventative behavioural norms were depicted as activities dominant in the female domain. Women are also responsible for influencing and encouraging men to live healthy lives. Parents, particularly mothers, are blamed for childhood obesity and media messages try to disgrace and shame the parents whose children are obese using evocative and emotive language. The depiction is consistent in media types and reinforces the traditional gender roles that position women as the custodians of health (Fitzpatrick et al., 2016). The analysis provides an insight on the US media discussions on obesity and depicts a traditional angle on gender roles in nutrition and diet.
Overall, obesity remains a constant debate in the US because of its prevalence. Whereas the prevalence of obesity is not contentious, the main problem has been about the causes of obesity. The major arguments put forth are that it is caused by either a combination of various factors or sedentary lifestyles. However, during the development of these arguments, there are various fallacies, biases and rhetorical devices used. These distort the argument by making simple causations and generalizations that could be inaccurate. The media also plays a role in the obesity epidemic by amplifying and depicting the obese people negatively. Such negative depictions contribute to the development of negative perceptions about obese individuals.
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