How much of the obesity epidemic can we attribute to personal decision-making?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

So, I got into an argument with my boyfriend about obesity in America, and it lasted for a long time. He very strongly believes that attributing the problem to far-reaching societal factors is more of a blame game than an accurate portrayal of what's going on. To him, if you're fat the only person you have to blame, at the end of the day, is yourself; you made bad choices.

My position is a bit more nuanced. Yes, I believe the buck stops at the individual. If you're obese, you made some poor choices and should take responsibility for them. But, at the same time, there are many reasons why you were incapable of making right choices... that's where the pressure from outside factors comes into play. We've got food porn on TV, unhealthy ingredients in our food, and food chemists trying to make the most addictive Dorito cheese known to man. In many ways, the deck is stacked against us. So, in mitigating the problem of obesity, we ought to focus on finding ways to make it easier for individuals to decide to be healthy. It's a choice, but it's a hard choice.

Here's my question:

At the end of the day, how much of the obesity epidemic can we attribute to personal decision-making?

For me, I think it's maybe 50-50 for individual choices and outside factors. What about y'alllll?

[IceSpear]

90%

[HagridOfTheDeep]

So a kid is fed McDoubles and hot dogs for dinner every night from age 2 to 14. He's severely overweight by the time he's 6, and then has trouble clawing out of the pit when he reaches adulthood. That's his fault?

A mom feeds her kid McDoubles and hot dogs for dinner every night. She doesn't have a spouse to help raise the kids or provide additional income, she works two jobs at minimum wage, and she doesn't have the time or money to cook healthier meals for her child. Personal decision-making is the only thing that's at fault here?

I mean, I know I'm being a pain, but obesity rates are ridiculously high and have grown over the last few decades. I don't think it's because people are getting dumber or more irresponsible. Things are changing in society. Individuals should be accountable for themselves, but I think we're being willfully ignorant of some things if we accept that it's really that simple. And to be honest, if you've never found yourself on the overweight side of things, it's hard to understand.

[Frodo]

So a kid is fed McDoubles and hot dogs for dinner every night from age 2 to 14. He's severely overweight by the time he's 6, and then has trouble clawing out of the pit when he reaches adulthood. That's his fault?

A mom feeds her kid McDoubles and hot dogs for dinner every night. She doesn't have a spouse to help raise the kids or provide additional income, she works two jobs at minimum wage, and she doesn't have the time or money to cook healthier meals for her child. Personal decision-making is the only thing that's at fault here?

I mean, I know I'm being a pain, but obesity rates are ridiculously high and have grown over the last few decades. I don't think it's because people are getting dumber or more irresponsible. Things are changing in society. Individuals should be accountable for themselves, but I think we're being willfully ignorant of some things if we accept that it's really that simple. And to be honest, if you've never found yourself on the overweight side of things, it's hard to understand.

I know, that's why after a moment's reflection (perhaps I was a bit too harsh...) I tried to delete my post before anyone responded. 

[bedstuy]

It's just a flawed question.  Everyone could be a healthy weight if they made better choices.  Everyone could stop smoking.  Everyone could be nice and hardworking and help old ladies cross the street or whatever.  Everyone could and should and most of them won't.  Such is life.  On a personal level, we all need to be better and all can be theoretically, subject to whatever our physical limitations are.

But, the real answer is that obesity is a social disease.  In 40 years, we've gone from 10% obese to 35% obese.  Did people just start making bad decisions?  No.  Can anyone really say 1/4 of the population lost their ability to make good choices in the course of a generation?  It's a silly idea. 

The real reason is that the American diet has changed because of the food industry.  People can profit by getting people hooked on food, so they do.  It's as simple as that.  Food is like a drug, you don't make rational decisions, you eat to make yourself feel good.  As far as the biggest culprits, it's soda, sweets generally and prepared & restaurant food.  Those things were far less prevalent 50 years ago and now, they're making a lot of people fat. 

[AggregateDemand]

It is related to industry. During prior generations, whole foods were cheap and processed foods were prohibitively expensive. Sugar was expensive, and the US imposed tariffs and anti-trade barriers on sugar so the industry switched to high fructose corn syrup in the late 1970s. Sweetener prices tumbled, and obesity rates started to climb. Now, sugar processing has been refined, and sugar prices are plummeting, as well.

However, cheap plentiful calories are a blessing, not a curse, and we should place an expectation on people to exercise their freedom responsibly. In very limited instances, it may be practical to subsidize whole foods to make sure that people actually do have access to food choices, but those programs should be limited in scope and focused on the most desperate communities.

[IceSpear]

So a kid is fed McDoubles and hot dogs for dinner every night from age 2 to 14. He's severely overweight by the time he's 6, and then has trouble clawing out of the pit when he reaches adulthood. That's his fault?

A mom feeds her kid McDoubles and hot dogs for dinner every night. She doesn't have a spouse to help raise the kids or provide additional income, she works two jobs at minimum wage, and she doesn't have the time or money to cook healthier meals for her child. Personal decision-making is the only thing that's at fault here?

I mean, I know I'm being a pain, but obesity rates are ridiculously high and have grown over the last few decades. I don't think it's because people are getting dumber or more irresponsible. Things are changing in society. Individuals should be accountable for themselves, but I think we're being willfully ignorant of some things if we accept that it's really that simple. And to be honest, if you've never found yourself on the overweight side of things, it's hard to understand.

Well technically that's still due to "personal decision making", just the personal decision of the mother (particularly in case 1). I said 90% because that's how much I would put to personal decisions (by either the person themselves or their caretakers), with the other 10% being factors such as genetics, the food industry, availability of healthy foods, etc.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

About 50-50. For some people, weight problems can be genetic, don't forget that. Otherwise, people who consciously consume food that is bad for them without balancing it with the proper exercise (I'm certainly guilty of this...) should take responsibility for their weight issues. I'm not saying they should get down on themselves, but they should make an effort to try and balance their diet and exercise a little more.

[TNF]

Close to 0%. Pretty much the entire obesity epidemic can be blamed on the capture of our food supply by money grubbing capitalists hellbent on selling their junk food by any means necessary. That, combined with the decline in the kind of free time that would allow more Americans to hit the gym or take the time to analyze what it is they're putting into their bodies (made harder by an education system that's been left for dead) (thanks, capitalism!) can also be pretty well blamed on the money-grubbing parasites at the top.

[traininthedistance]

As is so often the case, I blame cars.

It is no coincidence that the trend, begun in the post-war years and reaching its full destructive flower in the 80s and 90s, of planning for car-dependent sprawl where walking or other forms of active transportation are discouraged and no longer let you do anything useful or necessary, has coincided with increased obesity rates.

Obviously I don't blame them 100 percent, that would be rather more hyperbolic hedgehog-ish than is really warranted.  But if we're going to look at structural factors- and the shape of the data indicates that we must- our built environment shouldn't be ignored in favor of solely focusing on the food industry.

[Deus Naturae]

You can't really put a percentage figure on it but a lot of the obesity problem in the US is the fault of the government:



(agricultural subsidies distort dietary patterns)



(higher sugar prices caused by exorbitant sugar tariffs result in food companies replacing traditional sugar with addictive crap like high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil, etc)



(corn syrup and vegetable oil use is promoted further by subsidies for corn and soybean production, main ingredients in the former and latter, respectively)

[Deus Naturae]

Also, the "anti-fat shaming" and "body acceptance" movements based on encouraging people to be unhealthy aren't exactly helping either..

[Dr. Cynic]

As is so often the case, I blame cars.

It is no coincidence that the trend, begun in the post-war years and reaching its full destructive flower in the 80s and 90s, of planning for car-dependent sprawl where walking or other forms of active transportation are discouraged and no longer let you do anything useful or necessary, has coincided with increased obesity rates.

Obviously I don't blame them 100 percent, that would be rather more hyperbolic hedgehog-ish than is really warranted.  But if we're going to look at structural factors- and the shape of the data indicates that we must- our built environment shouldn't be ignored in favor of solely focusing on the food industry.

I don't drive. I walk most everywhere within the city. I don't bother to take public transportation because the buses in this city are horrible.

I'm over 300lbs.

Though my weight is down compared to this time last year.

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

I don't get why America is so different?  In Britain they have McDonald's and in many countries that's the cheapest food I can find.  But most other countries don't seem to be having these problems.

[TNF]

I don't get why America is so different?  In Britain they have McDonald's and in many countries that's the cheapest food I can find.  But most other countries don't seem to be having these problems.

Could have something to do with the fact that pretty much every other industrialized democracy on earth guarantees medical care for its people.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

100%.

[TNF]

100%.

Yeah, it's got nothing to do with companies beefing up portion sizes, spending more money on advertising (especially advertising aimed at children), pushing their crap into schools, the lack of wages high enough to pay for healthy food, etc.

[Lief 🗽]

The idea that an epidemic can suddenly appear based 100% on personal choices is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I don't get why America is so different?  In Britain they have McDonald's and in many countries that's the cheapest food I can find.  But most other countries don't seem to be having these problems.

Could have something to do with the fact that pretty much every other industrialized democracy on earth guarantees medical care for its people.

People don't become obese because they lack medical care, unless they have some sort of thyroid problem or other underlying condition. That's only a very small fraction of those who are obese.

You can't separate this question into percentages. People make personal decisions within the context of cultural expectations and social and economic circumstances. Change either and you can make a difference,   though for a reasonable expectation of success you have to address both.  They feed off each other. Certain types of unhealthy foods are accessible to people because they continue to buy them, but to a great extent they continue to buy them because that is what is available.

[Simfan34]

Also, the "anti-fat shaming" and "body acceptance" movements based on encouraging people to be unhealthy aren't exactly helping either..

Two very good points in this and the preceding posts. The Iowa caucus bears a large share of responsibility for why Americans are obese. We need to eliminate most agricultural subsidies- not to mention their role in choking the agricultural sectors of underdeveloped countries.

[AggregateDemand]

I don't get why America is so different?  In Britain they have McDonald's and in many countries that's the cheapest food I can find.  But most other countries don't seem to be having these problems.

The UK does have a problem with obesity. If you speak English as your first language, you have a much higher chance of being obese.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I don't get why America is so different?  In Britain they have McDonald's and in many countries that's the cheapest food I can find.  But most other countries don't seem to be having these problems.

The UK does have a problem with obesity. If you speak English as your first language, you have a much higher chance of being obese.

On a global level, yes, but within the US population I don't think that is the case.

[Indy Texas]

It's worth noting that the only other regions of the world with obesity rates comparable to the United States are (1) the South Pacific, and (2) the Middle East.

The first arguably can be attributed to genetics - people of Polynesian descent are more likely to be overweight or obese and that has a great deal to do with thousands of years of natural selection based on the ability to store up enough fat to survive on an island where agriculture is logistically impossible and your food supply is at the mercy of the ocean.

But the second tells you a lot. What do the Middle East and the United States have in common? Public transport is nonexistent for most people. Hot weather makes exercise outdoors unpleasant. Cheap oil and the ability to build sprawling, anti-pedestrian communities make walking unnecessary. And a large portion of the population adhere to socially regressive attitudes that encourage them to prioritize attending religious services and eating large quantities of food at religious/family events over exercise.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The idea that the "body acceptance" movement has anything to do with the obesity crisis is laughable.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The use of the word 'epidemic' is not helpful.