Obesity In The Workplace Essay

How would you feel if I told you that there is no one state with an obesity rate lower than 20%? Take this information and compare it to twenty years ago when every state had an obesity rate lower than 15%. Obesity has become not only the number one cause in death, but according to David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men’s Health and author of “Don’t Blame the Eater”, it is the number one cost in health care with numbers rising well over 100 billion dollars a year (196). There are many people we could blame, such as the food industry or the government, but before we start pointing fingers elsewhere, individuals need to stand up and take personal responsibility for their own actions and health. Either way it is evident a

In this chapter, Lupton examines how overweight people experience life in society and how negative views of being overweight affect said people. She concludes that overweight people face a plethora of challenges in everyday life for a multitude of reasons (Lupton, 2013, p. 67-68). Overweight people experience discrimination on multiple levels, which can lead to negative health outcomes. This leads to the question, are fat people sick because they are fat, or because social factors surrounding and influencing their fatness

There is scientific proof that obesity is linked to many serious health conditions of our time. Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and osteoarthritis [(National Institutes of Health) (Haslam)] are just some of them and were responsible for almost 400,000 deaths in America in 2004 alone (Goldfarb). These conditions even if they do not cause death, are serious enough to significantly decrease the quality of an individual’s life. The aesthetic effects of obesity, on the other hand, are known to cause depression and low self-esteem. Unfortunately, the criteria that most people are judged and evaluated today are based on the stereotypes created by advertisements and lifestyle in general. A thin, fit person has more chances of being likable and preferable than someone who is overweight, in many aspects of everyday life, including the workplace. All these situations create a very negative impact on the mentality of an overweight person.

The clinicians in the document say that if obese were replaced with racial or gender markers more people would speak out about the unfair treatment. Most of the outward prejudices of people living with obesity are from assumptions, obese people are assumed to be lazy, no self-control, and weak. People assume that obese people simply cannot stop eating. Biases and stigma come from all areas, family and friends, strangers, and in the workplace. Some interviewees in the documentary expressed feelings of not having a safe place.

Obese African American women were discriminated by society in the workplace. Being obese in society is seen as a form of laziness, self-disrespect, and poor self-control. Rothblum, Miller, and Garbutt (1988) found that overweight job applicants were evaluated more negatively than average weight applicants on issues such as their supervisory potential, self-discipline, and personal hygiene (Morrison & O'Connor, 1999). Qualifications for employment should never be based on an individual's weight. For example, Larkin and Pines

Obesity has been increasingly taking over the nation in the past 30 years or more. Although food choices are different from person to person, the underlying cause is not primarily the individual’s choice, but a combination of predetermined inherent attributes. Race, gender, social class, and age have significant roles in how obesity affects the nation.

Obesity is a developing issue in the U.S. today, principally created by physical latency and indulging. Along these lines, an increment in body weight can likewise be brought about by mental elements, innate qualities, using certain pharmaceutical furthermore through a man 's conduct and culture. America is among the wealthiest nations on the planet also, the fattest country and our stout rears are the objects of jokes in other lands (Klein 28). This developing pattern remains a noteworthy worry as heftiness influences an individual 's condition of prosperity, therapeutic services costs, efficiency levels and social criticism (U.S. Bureau of Health). Weight is an incessant condition characterized by having an abundance measure of muscle to fat ratio ratios. Grown-ups above 35 years of age are thought to be stout if their body mass record is 30. Then again, youngsters are viewed as overweight, on the off chance that they have a body mass list more noteworthy than or equivalent to the 95th percentile for their age (Bell). Be that as it may, a few people wind up being wrongly sorted as large or overweight (Sturm, 2002). As per a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, around 60 million individuals in the United States weigh more than 25 percent of their body 's optimal weight. The article "Fat Times" states, "If this were about tuberculosis, it would be called a pestilence" (Elmer-Dewit 58).

Nearly a third of adult Americans are obese (NCHS 2003). The occurrence of obesity in the United States’ adult population has more than doubled in the last 25 years, from about 15 percent in 1976 to more than 30 percent in 2000. Since obesity in the US has reached epidemic levels, it is important to understand as many aspects of the social determinants of this disease as possible. Obesity is not a standalone disorder; rather it has caused increases in increasing risks of disability, related diseases, and death as well as important and burdensome increases in the cost of health care (Allison, Zannolli, and Narayan 1999; Wang et al. 2003). Further, obesity is estimated as contributing to almost 15 percept of deaths in the US each year (Allison and Fontaine et al. 1999; McGinnis and Forge 1993; Rogers, Hummer, and Krueger 2003; Sturm 2002).

In article one Maia Szalavitz, wrote an article titled, “Viewpoint: Defining Obesity as a Disease May do More Harm Than Good.” She is a neuroscience journalist from Time Magazine, who talked about the harmful effect classifying obesity will have on one’s life, as well as others around them. In article two Dr. Keith Ablow’s article is called, “Obesity is not a Disease- and Neither is Alcoholism.” He is a psychiatrist and a member of the Fox Medical A-Team who talked about the solution to obesity, may be as simple as raising someone’s self-esteem. Both these articles talk why one should not classify obesity as a disease, but only one talks about the solution to solve the problem of obesity. Even though Szalavitz and Ablow are similarly matched rhetorically by taking a world-wide problem and discussing the issue of classifying it as a disease; Ablow is more rhetorically effective, because he uses more examples and evidence from different sources to back up his reasoning.

Obesity rates are soaring throughout North America (What Is Obesity?, 2013). With obesity reaching almost epidemic proportions in the United States, and the threat of a global epidemic, we must watch this alarming increase carefully ( Health Risks of Obesity, 2013). Obesity is defined as: "…an excess of adipose tissue…" (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014). The two most common measures of obesity are Body Mass Index (BMI is a ratio of weight to height) and relative weight index, such as percent desirable weight (Body Mass Index , 2013). BMI is the most frequently used measure of obesity as it has a strong correlation with more direct measures of adiposity, such as underwater weighing (A Report of the Surgeon General, 2013). Some

     Obesity can be termed deviant for a variety of reasons. Not only is it unhealthy, but it is also a widely unaccepted behavior in US society. The obese are labeled “…obscene, lazy, slothful, and gluttonous” (Adler and

There is a problem that is sweeping the world and has literally been growing on billions of people. This problem can lead to complications such as heart disease, and is a leading cause of death. This disease, which has also cost billions of dollars, is obesity, a disorder “involving an excessive amount of body fat” (“Obesity Definition” Mayo Clinic). However, the National Obesity Foundation is making excellent efforts at putting an end to this issue. Together with this foundation, a difference can be made in this world to help those with and prevent obesity by raising awareness, running programs to help victims lead healthier lifestyles, and fighting for national patient

Louise Townend in her research concerning the moralizing of obesity addresses the issue across a wide spectrum of categories such as economic, health and social policy. She enumerates the different social contexts of the obesity debate and begins by stating that obesity is no longer a trouble but an epidemic which is now a “significant issue for health and social policy, with major ramifications for general economic productivity across the globe”. (Townend) 2009: 3. She points out obesity is often associated with stigma such as laziness, dirtiness, illness and poverty (Townend, 2009). This connects the problem of obesity with the history of poverty and creates the question of why is laziness connected to obesity? And why does that consequently turn into poverty.

Weight discrimination “generally refers to negative weight-related attitudes toward an overweight or obese individual” (Puhl 1). Obesity numbers started to skyrocket in the 1990s and weight discrimination started to become a problem about five years later. Obese individuals are susceptible to weight discrimination at health care facilities, school, work, and even in personal relationships. Studies have found that the chances of experiencing weight discrimination increase the more an individual weighs. “In our study, 10 percent of overweight women reported weight discrimination, 20 percent of obese women reported weight discrimination and 45 percent of very obese women reported weight discrimination. men were lower, with 3 percent of overweight, 6 percent of obese and 28 percent of very obese men reporting weight discrimination. This finding also tells us that women begin experiencing weight discrimination at lower levels of body weight than men” (Puhl 2). For women weight discrimination is more common than race discrimination.

Obesity has become an epidemic in our over indulgent North American society. In addition to body image issues, obesity causes significant health issues. Society often views obesity to be a disease when it is actually a sign of a disorder, genetic or environmental. The percentage of our population that is growing overweight is increasing every year, and can become a very serious issue if it is not dealt with urgently. Problems relating to self-confidence, self-consciousness, and isolation can occur as a result.