A Campaign Against Obesity
<Institution>
Obesity as a Contemporary Societal Issue
People are getting bigger and bigger every single day. According to World Health Organization (2014), around 2.8 million people die every year due to obesity. Obesity is a condition characterized by a weight that is more than the healthy range. This condition leads to many negative health conditions, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stoke, certain types of cancer, mental illnesses, and others. What makes the issue worst is the fact that adults are not the only ones who are at risk of premature death. Each year, more and more children are weighing more than how they should be. Aside from health problems, obesity also leads to significant financial loss. According to the American Heart Association (2015), the health care cost associated with obesity-related diseases amounts to $190 billion annually. Obesity is associated to many risk factors. This includes genetics, health condition, and age – all of which cannot be controlled. However, there are also controllable and preventable causes that lead to obesity, and these are lifestyle and environment. A sedentary lifestyle together with over consumption of food is one of the leading causes of obesity. There is no doubt that many Americans are not living an active lifestyle. People wake up and take their car to their workplace, spend long hours sitting in front of the computer, and end their day by relaxing in front of the television while eating unhealthy processed foods. In fact, studies show that there is a link between obesity and watching television at a minimum of 2 hours a day (“What Causes,” 2012). This does not include the hours spent sitting while using the social media, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On top of this inactive lifestyle is the unhealthy environment, characterized by the availability and powerful marketing of fast foods, processed foods, and oversized food portions. The problem is that the society seems to be sending contradicting messages about this weight issue. Although people have been hearing about the dangers of being overweight and obese, it is also quite common to hear about the idea of loving one’s body no matter what. People often pity an obese person who experiences discrimination and bullying without thinking about what could have been done to avoid this condition. This is why an expanded communication about obesity is needed. The battle between being skinny and obese needs to stop. It is time for people to understand that achieving a healthy weight is the new sexy.
The Need for Communication Campaign About Obesity
Despite a common knowledge that obesity leads to many diseases and even death, more and more people continue to gain an unhealthy amount of weight. Thus, this condition has been considered as an epidemic. In the year 1990, only 15 percent of the U.S. population is obese, but when 2010 came, the rate increased to 25 percent or more for the 36 U.S. states (“An Epidemic,” n.d.). There are many things that trigger this epidemic, things that relate to lifestyle and environmental factors. For instance, people, especially children, commonly spend an enormous amount of time in front of the television. Based on a study conducted at the Boston Children’s Hospital, children normally spend an average of 3 hours per day in front of the television. In addition, they also use computers and video games (Desar, 2016). This means that instead of being physically active and burning some calories, they sit for long hours which make them store more calories in the process. Often times, children eat while watching the television, which means that they add more calories to the already stored fats that they have in their bodies. Furthermore, the advertisements that they see on TV significantly influence their choice of food. Logically, food advertisements are created to entice the audience to buy their products. The more children are exposed to the marketing materials of processed and high-calorie foods, the more they will want and crave for them. The same is true for adults. This is why communication campaign about obesity needs to be expanded. If there are lots of factors that trigger obesity, there should be a campaign that will help in shielding the society from this debilitating condition.
Social Media and Real Life Weight Loss Challengers
The idea of losing weight is much harder than it seems. Unless people see that real individuals are working for it and making progress, then, it will continue to remain as an idea that is difficult to achieve. Therefore, this campaign will choose and engage real people (e.g., students) to do the challenge of losing weight. Their journey, ups and downs, will be shared through social media together with the campaigns material that encourages people to take the journey of losing weight. For this campaign, social media will be the primary tool for communication because of it is cost-friendly, flexible, and can reach a significant amount of people at the fastest time. This campaign aims to encourage more people to take the journey of losing weight and share their own experience and progress through the social media platforms.
As of the last quarter of 2015, there were around 1.59 billion active Facebook users (“Number,” 2016). This is why it remains as the most popular and widely used social media around the world. By using Facebook for the campaign, more people will be aware about the existence of the campaign about the issue of obesity. Regular updates about the campaign, especially about the progress of the weight loss challengers, will be posted in Facebook for every follower to see.
Another powerful tool that will be used for the campaign is Instagram. As of December of 2014, there were 300 million active Instagram users (“Number of Monthly Active Instagram,” 2016). Because of its popularity, it is also a great tool for carrying out the campaign against obesity. What makes this different from Facebook is that it is primarily a photo sharing social media platform. Because humans are visual creatures, their attention is easily captured through interesting images, which is why using Instagram will be helpful in telling people about the adverse effects of obesity. Often times, people see photos of mouth watering processed foods, and this contributes to greater food cravings. With Instagram, powerful images of the adverse effects of obesity together with short messages can be spread at a faster rate. It is also through this platform that people will be able to follow the journey of the weight loss challengers (e.g., photos related to their food intake and physical activities).
Preliminary Sources for the Campaign
The following is a list of preliminary sources that will be useful for the campaign:
Online
Childhood Obesity Facts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Adult Obesity Facts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Childhood Obesity: Causes and Consequences by Sahoo et al.
Food Advertising and Childhood Obesity by David Ashton
Behavioral and Psychological Factors in Obesity by Collins and Bentz
A review of the psychological and familial perspectives of childhood obesity by Latzer and Stein
Summary
Because of the seriousness and severity of the effects of obesity, an expanded communication campaign about this contemporary issue is important. Through Facebook and Instagram, more people will be open to the idea that losing weight can be done and that being within a healthy weight range is the new sexy.
References
An epidemic of U.S. obesity: U.S. obesity trends. Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health. Retrieved from http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/an-epidemic-of-obesity/
American Heart Association (2015). Understanding the American obesity epidemic. Retrieved from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/WeightManagement/Obesity/Understanding-the-American-Obesity-Epidemic_UCM_461650_Article.jsp#.Vtg5r3194vc
Desar, L. (2016). New study explores link between TV and childhood obesity. Parenting. Retrieved from http://www.parenting.com/blogs/show-and-tell/leonora-desar/childhood-obesity
World Health Organization (2014). 10 Facts on obesity. WHO. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/obesity/en/
