Obesity is currently worsening throughout the developed world and becoming the top public health concern.
In Australia, over 60% (aged 25 and over) of adults are overweight of which 20% are obese, making us almost as fat as the Americans.
So why is the world getting more and more obese? It was not that long ago that my clients could recall dipping bread into the dripping on the oven tray and drinking full cream milk straight from the cow, so where did we go wrong?
Back in the dark ages, most societies would have known obesity, it is not something new. However, it was seen only at the elite end. Walk into any art museum, open any history book and you will probably see paintings of kings and nobles who could afford to eat what they wanted, tons of meat and pastries washed down with ale and wines.
Unfortunately, what has been limited to the elite, noble class is now available to everyone.
After the World War, there was limited choice with food, in fact food was rationed. But came the 1950s and we saw the birth of some of our most famous fast food giants, companies were also doing their best to convince the "typical" 1950s homemaker to purchase time-saving appliances and serve the family with new convenience/packaged foods. This had little success as traditional homemakers preferred to cook "the old fashioned" way.
As a country gets more developed, foods (both fresh and processed/packaged) become more readily available. The 1970s saw an increased participation of women in the labour force; this coupled with longer working hours meant that time available for traditional meal preparation from raw ingredients shrank as a result of changing working and living conditions. As such, the time saving nature of fast food and convenience foods now grew in popularity as they were available virtually everywhere.
The introduction of the World Wide Web in the 1990s revolutionised the way we work (as we spend more time behind a screen) and even shop. Statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that between 1998 to 2008-09, household access to the internet at home has more than quadrupled from 16% to 72%, while access to computers has increased from 44% to 78%.
These are all factors that, directly or indirectly, contribute to the lifestyle changes which have caused the obesity epidemic.
We certainly cannot go back to the days where there was no choice with food or when food was being rationed. But it’s my role to help people navigate through the supermarket aisles and hopefully make an informed choice about the food they buy.
However, the notion of informed choice relies on the premise that we make rational decisions but we humans are an irrational lot, aren’t we? We thrive on emotions and succumb to temptations and that, oh glorious chocolate cake/macaroon.
I have a dishwasher that came with my apartment that is still in its wrapper as I have never used it (waste too much power and I can do it in 10mins). I have no microwave at home as I feel it erodes people’s cooking skills. I try to cook from scratch and cycle to work whenever I can. These are all decision I made, they are not easy ones, but ones I live by.
Why do people wear seatbelts? Have a think next time you put one on, was it because you felt safe wearing one, or it is because the cops will pull you over and you risk losing points and have to pay a fine. Why do I not see ‘as much’ alcohol related violence and people smoking on the streets in Singapore. Is it for health reasons or is it because alcohol and cigarettes are the 2 most heavily taxed items on top of legislations that ban smoking in air-conditioned places.
On a higher level, governments need to think about how they are going to address this with radical policies that look at prevention rather than cure. Workplace need to place more emphasis on not just occupational health but also the general health and well being of its employees, perhaps incentives for staff who car pool, ride to work or enrol in a health class/program (i.e smoking cessation); only then will we be able to make some in-roads to the obesity problem, if not, we’re just pissing into the wind.
Darwin’s law of natural selection (while not in gene related evolution terms), states that when the environment changes, it’s the species that is able to best to adapt and develop those traits in adapting to the environment that will survive. Law of the jungle, survival of the fittest. Unfortunately in an environment where we are surrounded by cheap calories with high pressure advertising, I don’t think that people are able to make healthy choices – it’s just too difficult. The population as a whole is not going to survive. Its the sub-groups and individuals within who choose to make the hard choices based on those informed choices that will SURVIVE this obese-genic environment.
Who will you be?
Time to get some new ones but thats another post.
While we chatted about works and things, we had our difference in opinion but we couldnt' have been so like minded. We are both fanatic about sports. She's into Circus arts (Tisu, one where you twirl yourself around in midair with a piece of cloth) and the Tri scene and me the road and mountain bikes. We shop at the same bike shop (online). We are both very particular about keeping the house clean (to a certain degree). She does not wear shoes in the house (try telling that to an Aussie). Alas, it'll take a while getting used to someone new.
