Obesity is now a health concern worldwide affecting all nations, developing and developed nations alike. The disease has now “reached pandemic proportions” with every country struggling to fight the health problem using various public health approaches but unsuccessfully (Swinburn). Accordingly, there is the proposal to enact laws that will help reduce obesity rates and subsequent chronic illness (Meetoo 565). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rank cigarette smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. However, if left unchecked, obesity will overcome cigarette as the leading cause of preventable death. This is indeed true considering that obesity affects a higher population than cigarette smoking. For instance, while cigarette smoking is a problem mainly affecting youths and adults, obesity includes children.
Additionally, for the last two to three centuries, there has been consistence increase in obesity prevalence in adults (International Obesity Taskforce) and children (Lobstein and Frelut 196-199). According to the New York Times, obesity-related deaths in America have been recorded at 16.6% while smoking-related deaths have been recorded at 18.1%. However, the number of obese people has far outnumbered the number of smokers, which means it is a matter of time before obesity-related deaths surpass smoking-related deaths.
Ethical pros and cons of allowing individuals to live their lives of their own choosing even when it results in an increasing chronic illness burden to society
Allowing people to live their lives of their own choosing demonstrates willingness to allow people freedom of choice so long as this freedom does not have a negative impact on others. This therefore leads to a democratic society. However, considering that obesity has serious economic consequences to a country and the world at large, allowing people to live their lives of their own choosing increases a country’s economic burden, which prevents development.
Cited Works
CDC. Smoking & Tobacco Use. 2013. Web. January 25, 2014.
International Obesity Taskforce. The Global Epidemic. 2014. Web. January 25, 2014.
Lobstein, T. & Frelut, L. “Prevalence of Overweight Among Children in Europe.” Obesity Reviews, 4 (2003): 195-200.
Meetoo, D. “The Imperative of Human Obesity: An Ethical Reflection.” British Journal of Nursing, 19.9 (2010): 563-568.
Swinburn, Boyd A. “Obesity Prevention: The Role of Policies, Laws and Regulations.” Aust New Zealand Health Policy, 5.12 (2008).
The New York Times. Death Rate from Obesity Gains Fast on Smoking. 2004. Web. January 25, 2014.
