Arguments for Taking a Public Health Approach to Obesity

Contemporary
Debates

Topic: What are the arguments for taking a public health approach to obesity rather than
addressing the problem as it arrives for individuals? Discuss relevant research to support
answer.
INTRODUCTION
Obesity is complex disease which includes an excessive amount of body fat.
Although, obesity is not cosmetic concern as well as it is medical problem which result in
increasing risk of other diseases and health issues like diabetes, heart diseases, certain cancers
as well as high blood pressure. In addition to this, there are numerous reasons that few people
have difficulty or issues in avoiding obesity. Generally, obesity result from combination of
inherited factors that are combination of environment and personal diet as well as exercise
choices (Chooi, Ding and Magkos, 2019). This essay is based on topic: “Arguments for
taking a public health approach to obesity rather than addressing the problem as it arrives
for individuals.” For better understanding of entire topic in effective manner essay will
include numerous topic related to obesity which results in developing effectual understanding
related to topic.
MAIN BODY
Obesity and overweight are explained as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation
which present risk to individual health. In addition to this, BMI (Body Mass Index) over 25 is
considered as overweight and over 30 is obese. Issues has grown to epidemic proportions
with more than 4 million people who are dying every year due to obese or overweight in
2017 as per the research of global burden of disease. Along with this, at present rate of
obesity as well as overweight is finding more in adults and children now a days. Furthermore,
from 1975 to 2016 the prevalence of obese or overweight children as well as adolescent aged
5 to 19 years which enhanced more than four-fold from 4% to 18% at worldwide level
(Obesity, 2020). Apart from this, obesity is one side of double burden of malnutrition as well
as at present most of the people are obese in comparison of underweight within every region
except sub-Sahrana Africa and Asia (Arroyo-Johnson and Mincey, 2016). Once considered a
problem only in high-income countries, overweight and obesity are now dramatically on the
rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings. The vast majority of
overweight or obese children live in developing countries, where the rate of increase has been
more than 30% higher than that of developed countries.

Obesity is one of the complex disease that includes excessive amount of body fat.
Obesity is not consider as just cosmetic concern but it is medical problem. There are various
health issues and risk due to increase in obesity problems. Individual who have obesity issues
lead to increase the risk of health factors that consist of heart problems, high blood pressure
as well as cancer problems. There are certain population of individual who tend to have high
rates to obesity. Individual who are above age 60 as well as rural population will have higher
risk of obesity (Bray and et.al., 2017). People with high blood glucose that is sugar or
diabetes people have high chances of obesity. High blood pressure or hypertension, high
blood cholesterol, heart attack due to coronary heart disease, stroke and so on. Because of
obesity individual will face various issues and problems that have direct impact on health of a
person. It has been determined that individual needs to consider public health approaches to
obesity rather than addressing the problems as it arrives for individual. It is essential to
consider public health approaches in order to take correct and accurate decision for overcome
the problems of obesity. Public health approaches is refer as the practices that is significant
for maximum the benefits to large number of people in better manner. This will provide
accurate guidance and direction to individual with the motive of maintaining accurate health
as well as living correctly. Public health approaches involves defining as well as measuring
the problems, analysing various risk factor as well as cause of problems. Through this
individual will be able to determine various ways and techniques in order to successfully
prevent the problems or implement effective strategies on a large scale. Approaches of public
health is crucial for determining and analysing best ways for increasing health awareness of
the person and overcoming with the issues in most significant manner.
There are different components of public health and according to this health practices
and activities will be conducted by individual. This includes health, population, society wider
concerns, vulnerable population (Hales and et.al.., 2020). It is important to analyse and
evaluate each component of public health with the motive of successfully overcoming with
the problems as well as maintaining accurate health. In the case of obesity problem it is
crucial that individual is consider the approaches of public health rather then addressing the
problems as it arrives for individual. There are different types of obesity which can be
classified into six clusters. This includes young health females who were obese, heavy
drinking males who have higher alcohol intake, unhappy and anxious middle age people who
have poor mental health and well being, affluent and health elderly have higher intake of
alcohol and high blood pressure, physically sick but happy elderly includes people who have