Obesity - a worldwide problem
Our world is full of contrast, on the one hand the cult of the body reign in our world, on the other hand a lot of people suffer from obesity and overweight and today I would like to focus on this worldwide problem. The obesity is not only a phenomenon in the richest countries but also it increases at an alarming way in poor nations. Statistics show that in 2016 about 13% of the world's adult population were obese and in comparison, to 1975 the worldwide prevalence of obesity tripled. Based on reports we can say that obesity is a global health problem. The United State is one of the fattest country and what it is interesting enough the fast food in this country is cheaper than healthy food. From an early age people perceive fast food or other unhealthy products as a wholesome meal. The reasons of obesity in the Persian Gulf look different, because in that rich country corpulence is perceived as a sign of prosperity.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-adults-defined-as-obese
If we want to fight with obesity, we should understand the origin of problem. Everything starts with our lifestyle, work environment, stress and society. That factors have significant impact on our diet. For instance, it is common that people eat food to response to their feeling, so when they are upset, they grab something sweet to feel relief. Moreover, our environmental factors such us access to food, climate and facilities such as shops and urban open spaces, also pay a role in contributing to obesity. For example, if you live in the city with access to parks, bike paths or pedestrian walkways you will be more willing to get out of the bed and spend time outside. That factors I mentioned above affects our physical activity and diet. So poor diet and our lifestyle choices, such us drinking too much alcohol or eating pig out contribute to obesity in 80 percent. Another important factors that related to this problem is physical inactivity.
If we want to fight with obesity, we should understand the origin of problem. Everything starts with our lifestyle, work environment, stress and society. That factors have significant impact on our diet. For instance, it is common that people eat food to response to their feeling, so when they are upset, they grab something sweet to feel relief. Moreover, our environmental factors such us access to food, climate and facilities such as shops and urban open spaces, also pay a role in contributing to obesity. For example, if you live in the city with access to parks, bike paths or pedestrian walkways you will be more willing to get out of the bed and spend time outside. That factors I mentioned above affects our physical activity and diet. So poor diet and our lifestyle choices, such us drinking too much alcohol or eating pig out contribute to obesity in 80 percent. Another important factors that related to this problem is physical inactivity.
Both countries and big corporations note the obesity
as the world’s biggest problem. Therefore they take actions to fight with it.
Today I would like to describe two initiatives that was implement in Poland.
Let’s start from government program “ Narodowy Program Zdrowia 2016-2020” that
support a lot of initiatives that are going to promote healthy behaviour and raise
awareness of lifestyle changes that could reduce the risk of obesity. This
program involves only people whom BMI is above 30 kg/m2. In
Mysłowice thank to this initiative 36 participants lost a total of 136
kilograms. Lidl decided to counter the obesity among their clients. The company
is going to announce that chocolate and other sweets will disappear from stands
that are next to the till. Moreover they launched stuffed toys that are called
“Lidlaki”. Of course, it was marketing decision to compete with Biedronka but
it also was out to jolly customers to buy vegetables, fruits and healthy
products. In my opinions their program has positive impact on people awareness
and attitude towards healthy lifestyle.
Thank you for taking your time to read my article. 😊 Please find questions below and feel free to share your thoughts.
1. Do you think that welfare in the western societies conduce to obesity?
2. Do you think that polish strategy to combat obesity and promote physical activity is effective? If not, what Poland should change in the strategy to make it more successful?
3. Do you approve of gastric bypass surgery?
Comments
starts during childhood. Children are overwhelmed with advertisement of McDonald, chips, chocolate, soda drinks and etc. They get used to junk food, instead of healthy one.
From my point of view polish strategy to combat obesity is effective, but not good enough. For example there should be more hours of physical education for kids in school. If they don't get used to sport in their daily routine during theirs first year, they probably won't start training later.
Gastric bypass surgery should be a thoughtful decision, but if somebody have a real problem with food and want to change, it is a good place to start.
Well, I'm not interested in that case, great to hear that there are such initiatives though!
I think that promoting physical activity and healthy eating is always good strategy.
As I know gastric bypass surgery is now considered to be a safe and effective treatment so if patient really needs that I do approve the surgery.
I don't think that this is the only factor. There is plenty of rich people in the world who are not obese.
2. Do you think that polish strategy to combat obesity and promote physical activity is effective? If not, what Poland should change in the strategy to make it more successful?
The strategy itself certainly supports the idea but i don't think it's effective since you still have a lot of new projects that encourage you to bad habits - for example new scooters that are available in Warsaw. We already have a pretty good communication system but still people choose to take those scooters instead of just walking that would be much more healthier option for you - even if it's a short distance.
3. Do you approve of gastric bypass surgery?
I don't really have the best knowledge in the subject but i believe that for some people it might be the only option. I don't know if there are any complications afterwards but only people that want to have the surgery should consider pros and cons.
2. Polish strategy is good however they should also explain the people that you don't need to be physically active to be fit because we are very lazy. There is only one rule that people should stick to 'eat as many calories as your body uses'. There is a bunch of free calculators of calories available on the market so it is much easier than it was before.
3. In my opinion this the choice of everyone. Sometimes it is just needed to save a life
2. Polish strategy for promoting healthy lifestyle isn't bad, although most of our nation has a passive lifestyle, works in corporations or sits in front of computers. As a result, they don't have much free time, so it's hard for them to devote to physical exercises. I think that healthy food should be much cheaper, there should be marketing campaigns showing fast food or even smoking in a bad light. In my opinion, good habits should be instilled from an early age, I mean, for example physical education lessons throughout the entire education process. Most students don't participate in such classes, they have dismissals or various excuses. They should be encouraged to participate in exercises in different ways, offering them some kind of rewards, etc.
3. To be honest, I have never heard of gastric bypass surgery. It's a pity you didn't mention it in the article. I think this is the only solution for people who have no other choice and their current situation is life threatening. I have no opinion on this subject, but I think that this is a rather good thing and should be considered when a person agrees to it.
Generally, most western national welfare includes the education subsidies, medical subsidies, food subsidies which is meant to protect the right and offer the fundamental supply to people living under the poverty. But as a common sense, obesity is usually connected with the words wealth, over-fed and good-nourished. Considering from the substances aspect, people who benefits from the welfare system still struggle for their daily life and do not have excessive energy to store. Besides, because the obesity has strong connection with people’s diet and life habits, which have certainly nothing to do with the welfare system, so welfare does not seem to make any contribution to the obesity.
2. Do you think that polish strategy to combat obesity and promote physical activity is effective? If not, what Poland should change in the strategy to make it more successful?
I think it is kinda effective but not totally, in my opinion, removing the chocolates and candies from the shops can somehow stop people from accessing the fatty food. But it cannot reduce the obesity rate, this action may just reduce the sale of candy food but not enhance the improvement of the obese phenomenon. As I suggest, there should be a bonus like “fat insurance” linked to sport activities, and under this incentive, people would be more willing to do exercise, therefore it will reduce the obesity.
3. Do you approve of gastric bypass surgery?
I do not agree with the surgery. First of all, all kinds of surgery have their risks. According to different physical conditions, the surgery should be well prepared on the patients. Secondly, every operation costs a huge fare and not everyone could be able to afford it, would government buy this bill?
2. I have no opinion in the matter because frankly i didn't know about those programs. but I do support the initiative.
3. I am against gastric bypass. This doesn't treat the cause olny the effect. I've heard of people dying after such intervention because they got back to bad habits of eating. This is the easy way.
2. I'm not sure if any government strategy can help. It's rather about people and their good will to eat healthier and have more sport. They only think that comes to my mind is to put more restrictive regulations on food standards.
3. I'm not sure if it helps. In some cases it may be necessary, but in most of them, it's better to lose weight on your own, because this change would be less drastic and what's more one will have to work out better eating habits.
2. I always support such events. As I mentioned previuos, the problem is lack of nutrition education, and this is national problem. Some extras lessons for children are pointless. We should educate, talk about diet and make parents aware, because usually they prepare meals, not children. I know that it is impossible to change Polish cuisine and diet of Poles in one day or even year. But we should promote healthy foods, fruits, vegetables and natural ingredients. Moreover, PE classes at schools should be changed. Of course, this classes should be compulsory and rely on general body development (gymnastic, stretching, weightlifting), not just playing football.
3. I am not interested in this topic. I belive sometimes this type of operation is needed to save patient’s life.
2. I think that polish strategy to combat obesity and promote physical activity is partially effective. The main problem with us is the lack of proper education in schools and awareness of the damage caused by obesity in our lives.
3. I have no opinion on this topic. If someone has money and wants to do this surgery, why not? The way is free, it's democracy.
2. Yes, I think so. Few months ago, I saw very funny advertisement campaign that said “jedz ostrożnie” with a man with burgers instead of stomach. Many people said that the posters were offensive to fat people and, due to that, inappropriate. I think this campaign was very successful because it drew attention of everyone passing by.
3. Yes, I approve. If someone isn’t motivated enough to lose weight by himself, they should be given a chance to do it by a surgery.
2. No, I don’t think so. I have never heard of such strategy and I think that people don’t care about such initiatives. I wonder, if Poland actually has to do anything about it. It is important for keeping children healthy, but besides, there’s not a big problem with obesity in Poland. For sure, if the healthcare was totally private, maybe people would start to think about their decisions from the perspective of money. Anyway, I think that besides children in schools, adults have to take care of themselves. The quality of food on the market is the real problem. The amount of chemical substances injected into meat and other food would give all of us cancer eventually.
3. Yes, if someone wants to do this, then he should. Why should we care about potentially disadvantageous decisions of others? Gastric bypass surgery doesn’t affect other people in any way, so there is nothing to be approved or disapproved.
I think Poland or any other country should think about this problem more widely.
What about gastric bypass surgery. In my opinion every person is a master of his body and if he/she thinks that this surgery will be useful for him/her so be it.
1. I believe that it's for sure one of the factors, as we can easily observe an obvious connotation between obesity and level of life in certain countreis in Your article.
2. Poland in my opinion does pretty good job at encourage people to move by organising various sport events in big cities.
3. I most certainly don't approve gastric bypass surgery as there is no return after overgoing that kind of surgery. I know for sure that in 99% of obesity cases the problem lies in the head of an obese person, not in too large stomach. The good thing is that in America in order to get refundable gastric bypass surgery You need to loose some weight first by Yourself so there are some people who notice that this is possible without any surgery and they achieve their goals on their own.
2. I hear for a first time that there is any polish strategy to fight obesity. If they are promoting being healthy then they don't do it too well, but no surprise if government main objective is buying votes for future elections. Overall I think that if we wanna fight obesity 'nation wide' with help of goverment, then they should impose laws that restrict or make sales of things leading to obesity much harder. But then I don't really support such ideas even if effective, because everyone has his own right to decide for his life. Another good idea would be making some school classes about healthy eating, but most of kids will ignore those at young age (and even if they don't, they may have nothing to say about it in their homes), and for older ones it's rather unnecessary as they should already be aware of how things work. We may say obesity is a problem, but most of obese people led to it by themselves. It's their fault and they should deal with it by themselves. There are plenty of people that are heavily overweight, yet manage to get fit, with healthier meals and addition of exercises. No need to impose it on everyone.
3. Not really. Gastric bypass surgery feels like cheating. It won't remove problems. Some people out of fear may reduce their meals and stick to their new body, but for some it may have terrible health results. If people wanna be fit, they should work for it. For some people though it's only option and if their life is in danger, then such surgery can be something good. Otherwise gyms welcome everyone and you can buy good food practically everywhere. Sometimes even addition of walks bring nice benefits. There's no need to rush things when it comes to our health. It's not a race, even if we wanna look better immediately.
2. I think it is effective for people who notice their obesity and want to change something in their life. Those initiatives may be strongly encouraging for them. However, a lot of people simply do not care and therefore nothing would affect them.
3. If it helps people then sure. However from what I know it is quite dangerous and the entire procedure should be more safe to me.
I heaven't heard about that program at all and about this initiative in Mysłowice; 36 people and 136 kg in total it's like 3.7(7) kg per person which don't seems much. To change that meybe a good solutions is actually making healthy food cheeper and unhealty more expensive?
Yes i do. For many people that can be a life changing operation. I do know a person that had one and is very happy and healthy person now.
I think well-being is not the cause here. Yes, it can affect it, but usually if someone has a lot of money it is a slim person. The problem lies in our head, laziness, fast food, covetousness, eating problems. Easy craving like eating sweets.
2. Do you think that polish strategy to combat obesity and promote physical activity is effective? If not, what Poland should change in the strategy to make it more successful?
I am not convinced whether this would work. However, if we were to help someone, for example, people who are actually obese and want to lose weight. In my opinion, we should promote the diets that they should use every day, show them exactly what a tasty and non-hungry alternative to their daily diet can look like. In many cases, people just don't know how to do it properly, eventually they do it wrong and get discouraged.
3. Do you approve of gastric bypass surgery?
Only in cases threatening life and health. Otherwise, it is just postponing the problem and not solving the problem. However, everyone have the right to choose.
2. I think it is step in right direction but it should become more and more agressive to the point that we should just fat shame people. It won't change in the other way. I wish we could just overcome this terrible plague.
3. Yes, I don't see why shouldn't I. But the most important matter is what person after this surgery would do with their life. If they are just going to get back to old habits it makes no sense to do the surgery.
1. I don`t see much connection between obesity and being welfare. This is mostly our choice to stay healthy and good-looking or being obese. I know a lot of people who are welfare and not obese.
2. I dont know anything about it, but I think it is not bad, because comparing our nation to the others we are looking not bad. The one think which I will suggest to change it is to promote physical activity in the childchood and organise special section and clubs for free.
3. I dont have sufficient knowledge about this topic, but if it helps I aprove this type of treatment.
2. It is a very good idea to promote healthy lifestyle, but I don't think that the posters and ads can be the only solution.
I think, that it would be much more effective if there were special subsidies for healthy food producers so they could lower their prices. I am convinced that more people would choose healthy food over fast-food if the prices were cheaper.
3. I am very liberal in terms of what people can and cannot do to themselves, so I definitely don't disapprove.
2. I think that the Polish strategy to fight obesity is not bad, but it should put more emphasis on creating appropriate habits related to nutrition, exercise and a healthy lifestyle in general. Appropriate education from early age can change a lot.
3. In my opinion, people should have the right to do this type of surgery, however, if it is not combined with changing habits, its effects can be very short-term, but if it helps someone, of course.
2. I think that polish strategy is quite effective. People responsible for this project do their best, they promote healthy lifestyle, sports, they also take care of developing knowledge on the ground. I can honestly say that they did everything they could.
3. Yes, this surgery can be life-saving for grossly overweight people, but in my opinion shouldn’t be open-access. At first people with obesity should do their best and try to lose weight on their own, by changing their eating habits and excercising.
2. To be honest, I think that everyone should care about their own health and health of people closest for them, therefore I am in no position to judge whether a country has a good strategy in this field.
3. I have nothing against it, but I would not undergo the operation myself.
Just this morning I watched a wonderful video describing the so-called dopamine addiction. Tasty food has become too available. The brain ceases to enjoy the usual amount of delicious food, he wants more and more. In my opinion, this is the main problem. But eating addiction is not the only addiction that comes with an excess of dopamine. People have started to live in very comfortable conditions.
2. Do you think that polish strategy to combat obesity and promote physical activity is effective? If not, what Poland should change in the strategy to make it more successful?
I think trying to get people to do something wrong isn't exactly the right approach. You don't have to force everybody into parks or put them on a healthy diet, but you have to make people want to do it themselves. Maximum cheap fruits and vegetables. Activities that will be interesting to go to. It is also worth considering the people of singles, so that they had something to do in the same parks. Think of a system of paths. Make the park in such a way that it would like to go by itself, not from the lack of other options
Anyway, it's better to do something than nothing.
3. Do you approve of gastric bypass surgery?
I've seen nothing about it in article, and I don't know anything about it from my life(fortunately). I'm not sure if I should google it by myself, I think there is more sence to give questions about the content of the article.
It's to general question. It hardly depends on culture.
2. Do you think that polish strategy to combat obesity and promote physical activity is effective? If not, what Poland should change in the strategy to make it more successful?
I think it doesn't matter that much beacause people need to be responsible for they own health.
3. Do you approve of gastric bypass surgery?
I dont mind that kind of surgery, everyone have their own life.
2. Of course, I think Poland is fighting obesity in the right way. The Ministry of Health provides free diets that are balanced and tailored to the individual's needs. In addition, a ban on selling sweets at school was introduced. What else could they do? They won't block the gastronomy market, that would be stupid and illegal.
3. I think that if someone has a problem with obesity, they should take advantage of it. Thanks to this, people feel better and live longer. Sometimes someone is overweight by hormones and such surgery is the only solution for him.
2. I haven't even heard about such strategy, so I think it is not so effective. To improve overall situation laws to deal with unhealthy food business should be lobbied.
3. I think it's a last thing you will do. Only for people that can not deal with obesity in a conservative way.
2. I don't think it's effective. As i mentioned in previous question: it's people's attitude that matters in this case. Myself included. The only thing i had to change was my attitude, because i didn't care about some advertisments about weight loss. After i changed my attitude, I took good care of myself and lost 26kg.
3. I don't exactly know how it works so i have no opinion about that.
2. I think the Polish strategy to combat obesity and promote physical activity is effective. Of course, it can’t be called the best, but it gives results. Physical activity is encouraged in Poland: free bikes on every corner, lots of places to walk.
3. I know little about it. But I think this is a necessary thing for obese people.
2. Polish strategy is good but it can be improved. Such actions are needed, but we should try to increase the number of city bikes and reduce the number of electric scooters.
3. In my opinion, this is too much interference and too dangerous. I would never have decided on such a thing.
2. I think that it's good to see that some companies try to promote healthy lifestyle and promote more acitvities, but I'm not sure that they are effective because it's people's choice and it's more important to educate and change the mindset than to sell some stuffed toys.
3. I'm not the expert in this subject but I think that this is neccessary for some people and can save their life.
2. I don't feel it, so I don't think so. Support more sports than just this theater called football.
3. I am not a supporter of this. I think that sport will give a better effect.
I mean, at least they’re trying, right? Decision to get rid of the sweets on the stands near the till is the best decision ever, not only for obese people, but also for parents which are in the shop with their children. No more yelling and crying in the line, weeee! :)
Is it the surgery when the stomach gets reduced in size? I think it’s a good thing for extremely obese people, I guess. I don’t know much about this kind of surgeries.
2.It depends on which part of this strategy are we talking about. In last few years many changes appeared in Poland. Especially visible one is appearance of available for rent city bikes and scooters. It' a great change and many people decides to use them while travelling through city. However it's not the only thing we can observe for example on Warsaw streets. Recently we could saw social campaign as posters on stops. In my opinion graphically very good and catchy but also direct and offensive. It's not the right way.
3.I guess it is as with every other surgery. It's good and helpful when it' necessary.
1. Do you think that welfare in the western societies conduce to obesity?
1.No it's not. In the end it is our choice and daily habits that can make us fat.
2. Do you think that polish strategy to combat obesity and promote physical activity is effective? If not, what Poland should change in the strategy to make it more successful?
Yes i think it is effective because there is really small percent of obesity people in our country. We practice daily activities and have many healthy products on our market
3. Do you approve of gastric bypass surgery?
Yes, It sound really cool. If you can loose some fat just by operation, give it a try
2. There is no serious problem with obesity in Poland. Programs conducted by goverment are useful to raise people's awareness of how serious obesity is to health. The transition to a healthy lifestyle is very popular. Many famous people are involved in actions promoting healthy food, which are very effective means of persuasion.
2. I don't know the statistics, but I think yes. I see a lot of people riding bikes and spending time outside, plus healthy eating has become fashionable and promoted among young people.
3. I don't really have opinion on this topic. I don't know, but if people need help - we should help them.