Obesity, is it Your Fault?
An article on the internet said that 89% of Americans believe that individuals are to blame for being overweight and only 5% thought that obesity was due to environment or genetics.
Scientists tell us that obesity is due to 3 primary factors. They are:
- Genetics (a predisposition to being overweight),
- An environmental and energy-rich food supply and a tendency to reduce physical activity, and
- Personal behavior (Most of the world only believes it Is personal behavior).
Compare this to skin cancer or melanoma. For skin cancer (like obesity) we have 3 factors:
- Genetic (your genes give you fair skin),
- Environmental exposure, and
- Personal behaviour (sun blocks and protective clothing).
No one questions a person who contracts skin cancer relating to the above factors. Help and treatment is available. Melanoma is a disease, just like obesity.
Important questions to ask:
- Is obesity among children their fault?
- Is healthcare based on "fault" in other areas?
- Does a fault based approached help or hurt in efforts to solve the problem?
People need help and guidance to understand the problem, not to be judged because of their lack of knowledge. "Obesity is a disease and has little or nothing to do with lack of self discipline." - Dr Rami Cohen.