Why are people becoming larger?
Obesity has become a serious problem in many countries of the world. Some argue that digital technology facilitates convenience of everyday life, but it also causes laziness. Many people tend to stay home for any daily activities, rather than to go out. Furthermore, industrialization alters ways of working, especially for white collar industry. Sitting in the office for longer working hours seems to be a common scene nowadays. In comparison with the old days, there is no doubt that human beings exercise much less nowadays hence become larger.
The reasons for weight gain are complex. In terms of individuals, lack of health concern could be seen as the primary issue of fatness. Laziness results in different lifestyles. Due to intense working environment, many office workers look for fast food to meet deficient time of eating, such as hamburgers, sandwiches, or grabbing a bite from convenience stores. Those option are often malnourished. In addition to high working pressure, there is a tendency that junk food and sweet drinks helps to release stress while releasing endorphins for mental satisfaction. However, it causes eating disorder by over consumption of sugar and calories. Another argument put forward is that people would eat much more and drink more alcoholic drinks in social gathering activities. In my opinion, in spite of changing lifestyles in modern society, people still have to be aware of personal health condition and to consider proper food and do enough exercise.The issue of overweight is not only individuals’ problem, but also corporations’ responsibilities. With development of globalization, popularity of fast-food culture has spread around the world, such as Mc Donald’s, KFC, and any similar concepts of brands. Also, advancement of technology, additives and chemicals have widely used for better taste and appearance. Some argue that people prefer for flavorful food and dislike bland tastes. Media exposure escalates the tendency with endorsing rituals of events and concepts of food pairing. For example, while watching football games, the best food combination would be potato chips, coke, and beer. What’s worse, some corporations do not care about food safety and only pursuit cost deduction. This strongly affect the public’s health and also creates huge environmental issues.
Many people also argue that cultural values play a crucial role in attitudes towards weight control. This traditional social ideal identifies people’s size and shape in style. For example, some countries appreciate a certain amount of heaviness over extreme thinness, such as Spain. In addition to eating and exercise habits originated from cultural norms, this fatness would have a great influence on self-esteem, personal health, and others’ point of views in society. In terms of personal health, some risks related to obesity include heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, breathing problems, etc... Hence, weight control should be altered with time on how to value body size and shape.
In conclusion, I think that people must have awareness of food consumption both in quality and quantity. If an individual has weight problems, it’s better to look for professional’ help, such as doctors or nutritionists. This is because everyone has different underlying health condition. It is dangerous to follow the fad from the Internet. Doing exercise does not mean playing professional sports. While watching TV, taking a walk after eating or stretching benefits physical health and release stress. It is also vital to understand that drinking more water is an obvious advantage than having any sweet drinks or alcoholic drinks. Furthermore, people must demand corporations for food safety concern and only purchase food from focusing on ethical values and environmental sustainability.
