Obesity is becoming a medical condition of major concern which requires immediate action by Public Health professionals. Renowned health workers are of the view that it is high time that the government takes a stand to curb obesity. But the ethical dilemma in this regard appears when it comes to the point that if onlookers should see what others are eating or if someone else should bother about the weight or eating habits of a person. These questions bring us to the point where a conflict arises between well being and freedom (Clark, 2013).
A major ethical dilemma in relation to obesity came forward when the food advertisers were made aware of the fact advertising of food and marketing of the same were increasing the chances of obesity among children. This factor came up as an eye opener to the people in the world of marketing and advertisements. Gradually, in order to follow the regulations to reduce the impact of such advertisements on children, the marketing agencies had to pull down their ads from the market (Yordy, Paden & Bryant, 2014).
On similar grounds, bariatric surgery on obese children has been another major challenge in terms of public health. Lack of understanding, maturity and family relations often complicate the lives of children undergoing bariatric surgeries (Hofmann, 2013). The association of childhood obesity with psychological illnesses also add up to the worldwide concern that it has been creating since the last few decades now. A good amount of debate has been going on at various levels as to who and what factors are attributing to the phenomenal increase in the rate of childhood obesity so that we can work directly at the root cause in the near future. (Farpour- Lambert et al., 2015).
References
Clark, I. (2013). Obesity: Ethical Dilemma and Public Health Challenge. UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Retrieved 4 January 2017, from http://www.med.wisc.edu/quarterly/obesity-ethical-dilemma-and-public-health-challenge/41724
Farpour-Lambert, N., Baker, J., Hassapidou, M., Holm, J., Nowicka, P., O''Malley, G., & Weiss, R. (2015). Childhood Obesity Is a Chronic Disease Demanding Specific Health Care - a Position Statement from the Childhood Obesity Task Force (COTF) of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO). Obesity Facts, 8(5), 342-349. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000441483
Hofmann, B. (2013). Bariatric surgery for obese children and adolescents: a review of the moral challenges. BMC Medical Ethics, 14(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6939-14-18
Yordy, E., Paden, N., & Bryant, K. (2014). “Charmingly delicious”: childhood obesity and General Mills’ dilemma. Retrieved 4 January 2017, from
