Traditional versus Modern Food- Medical Cost to Society - Term Paper Example

Obesity (Traditional Vs Modern Food- Medical Cost to Society) Institution Name Date Abstract The need to have a balanced diet is the most concern of most nutritionists always. There are frequent calls for people to avoid junk food and concentrate on more fresh and natural food. The call for this move has been because of the high level of obesity witnessed in both developed and developing countries. The fact that people choose such foods is alarming because not only do people buy more food but also buy cars and so many other energy saving machines and yet they forget that such things increase weight in the body. The increase in body weight leads to obesity, which in turn opens ways to other deadly diseases like cancer, asthma, high blood pressure and diabetes. Therefore, such eating habits and lifestyles are viewed the commercial drivers of obesity epidemic because there is no sign that consumers will desire to eat less food and become more socially responsible. Another issue of concern is the economic impact of obesity when people resolve to eat modern food and ignore traditional food. Studies have shown that most governments have spent billions trying to put up measures to curb the obesity with little success. In this regard, there is need for policies, laws and regulations that will help bring social and environmental changes that will later lead to low cases of obesity. Such policies and laws should also consider the medical cost that obesity poses to the society. This would also extend to an assessment of how obesity has impacted on public liability, urban planning, transport, food safety and medical costs. This paper therefore aims at looking at the worldwide view of obesity and later narrowing down to compare, contrast, evaluate and analyze the laws and policies that the Australian and Saudi Arabian governments have put in place to curb obesity focusing much on the medical cost to society. Introduction Obesity is common as a result of taking the so called ’fast foods’. The emergence of fast foods at hotels and restaurants has attracted a good number of young people such that they spend more time consuming these fast foods rather traditional food. It is a fact that fast food is very attractive especially the cool atmospheres in the restaurants and this has gone to the extent where most families do not stay together at most times because the children hang out in the restaurants in the name of taking fast foods at the expense of traditional food cooked at home and which is more safe and healthy. Most times people associate obesity with just the concept of having a shape-up or appearing big but obesity is the act of having excess fats that are proportional in the body. Body fats are made up of fat cells or adipocytes (Burniot, 2002). Therefore, in medical terms, it is defined as excess amount of adipose tissue in the body (Keller, 2008). Someone will be considered obese if he/she has a 20% weight more than the normal weight. An overweight person is one whose BMI is between 25- 29.9 while a person who is obese has the BMI above 30. The disease of obesity has been historically known in most societies as one of the common nutritional diseases in the world and is mostly common among children and adults. Case studies of Obesity in Australia and Saudi Arabia Obesity in Australia (Laws and Policies) A major challenge to the public health sector in Australia is the epidemic of obesity. Almost 60% of Australia’s population as well as most children have the problem of obesity and this makes Australia to be rated the most over weighted country among other developed countries (National Preventative Health Taskforce by the Obesity Working Group, 2009). This problem has been witnessed mostly among men and women who belong to the disadvantaged group. The group is either disadvantaged economically or socially and even in terms of educational levels. Obesity in Australia is considered a problem because of the problems associated with it. In other words, health problems that are tied to excess weight do have economic burdens on the individuals, families and societies (NationalPreventativeHealthTaskforce by the Obesity Working Group, 2009). In Australia, the overall cost of treating obesity in the year 2008 was $58.2 billion; the direct cost for the community was estimated at $8.3 billion in the same year (National Preventative Health Taskforce by the Obesity Working Group, 2009). The government bore one third of this cost, which included productivity cost, employment impacts, health system costs and career cost. The pinch of this health cost could be felt from the reasoning that obesity affected several workplaces with absenteeism being the major problem. With that heavy treatment cost in mind, the view of Australians is that nutrition needs to take care of the aesthetic and emotional needs of people in addition to just meeting nutritional requirements. Therefore, the fight against obesity is tied to the principle of reshaping eating behaviours to achieve positive outcomes. Australians reason that giving talks on the need to avoid much food and alcohol is not just enough, but a collective responsibility from all institutions concerned would bear fruits. They further recognize that behavioural change is the best response to obesity but the most challenging because of its complexity. To exercise such a perspective, a prevention scheme with laws and policies have since been set up with the view that prevention involves approaches and activities aimed at reducing the likelihood that a disease will affect an individual and that the treatment of obesity has proved expensive. Firstly, the government had taken the initiative to reshape the food supply and make people eat lower risks foods as well as encouraging physical activity (National Preventative Health Taskforce by the Obesity Working Group, 2009). This was supported by enhancing the taxation system to make people access only healthy food; regulating the amount of Trans fats, saturated fats, salt and sugar content in food. Moreover, the government decided to protect children and other adults from getting information on unhealthy foods and beverages by prohibiting such advertisements and promotions (National Preventative HealthTaskforce by the Obesity Working Group, 2009). This initiative was to be supported by an effective, adequately funded long-term public education and information campaigns to help improve eating habits and physical activities. This was further extended to reshaping urban environments towards healthy eating options. The government also resolved to target programs to encourage healthy eating among expectant women with the aim of largely reducing the gap for the disadvantaged groups and strengthening and supporting primary health workers in their bid to help people make healthier choices of food (National Preventative Health Taskforce by the Obesity Working Group, 2009). Obesity in Saudi Arabia (Laws and Policies) Saudi Arabia is rated as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The prosperity it enjoys has also brought about changes in the lifestyles of most of its citizens. This has been characterized by bad eating habits, which are less healthy, and also the fact that there is less physical activity (Obesity Research Centre, 2010). The high growth in the number of people with obesity in Saudi Arabia has been blamed for the growing number of fast food restaurants. Figures show that 70% of the local population is obese with 34% being men and 45% women (Arabian Business.com). According to Nutrition Research (2002), 49.15% of women and 29.94% of women between the age of 30 t0 70 years are obese while 31.55% of women and 41. 91% of men are overweight but not obese. The number of obese and overweight men and women range between the ages of 40-49 years of age. Also 52% of adult population in the area is obese in addition to 18% of adolescents. Such a data reflect the seriousness in the issue of obesity especially with the view that obesity can lead to so many other diseases such as diabetes and cardio-vascular diseases. Obesity in Saudi Arabia therefore is becoming a crucial health problem. The level of prevalence of obesity in the kingdom is high on both men and women. The men who are presumed obese are considered non-smokers while obese women are viewed to be less likely to engage in physical activity (Nutrition Research, 2002). This prevalence has been associated to other factors like, watching television and eating snacks among women (Madani, 2000, 7). Majority of women are not employed. The country also registers high level of excessive food intake. The attitude towards obesity has been influenced by their traditions as women wear long, comfortable and wide clothes thus cannot notice their gradual increase in weight (Madani, 2000, 6). The major problem has been that the people in the kingdom have so much preferred modern food to traditional food. In terms of setting up polices to help curb the problem of obesity in Saudi Arabia, there has been suggestion on the need to educate the population in the kingdom on healthy eating habits and proper food consumption and also encourage women to go for physical activity. However, the strategies cannot work because of polices and traditional practices in Saudi Arabia. Women are not allowed to dress in any other way except the long dresses that are wide. Despite the fact that there are many places for women to do physical education, the prohibition that women should not engage in any physical activity outside their homes makes the prevention of obesity to be a challenge. Comparison and Contrast of the Policies and Laws on Obesity in Australia and Saudi Arabia Both Australia and Saudi Arabia are countries that have both experienced the obesity epidemic. They all share the fact that most of their populations prefer international fast food at classic restaurants to traditional food cooked at home and shared by everyone in the family. In similar cases, obesity is common among the children and young adults, men and women of all ages, in Saudi Arabia and Australia. Australia decided that high taxation on junk food is the best way to discourage people from buying unhealthy modern food. In Saudi Arabia, the initiative is yet to be established as the government has only tried to protect its citizens from unhealthy food advertisements but is not yet clear as to whether it should ban or not ban food advertisements completely. The prosperous life in the country is also affecting the decision-making process on food choices. Analysis and Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Each Government’s Laws and Policies in Tackling Obesity A case study of Australia shows how the government of Australia has made a great step in preventing and managing obesity. The drive to prevent obesity has come with the high medical cost that is attached to treating obesity being that obesity also ties to other diseases such as diabetes. The measures put in place in Australia seem to be effective especially because they target all the genders and age groups. In Saudi Arabia, no much growth has occurred. Health officials have actually blamed the lavish Saudi lifestyle. Controlling the kind of food eaten by the population in the kingdom has become a challenge because they are rich and therefore go for fibber-rich fast food and meat-based dishes. Conclusion The nutritional problems experienced in Saudi Arabia are because of the change in eating habits, illiteracy and ignorance (Madan, 2000, 7). There is no problem of food shortage and this is an achievement to them. Therefore, there is need for all the population of Saudi Arabia as well as Australia to be educated on the need to eat a balanced diet. This would be accompanied by behaviour change in relation to food intake and strenuous physical activity. Such measures are important since the treatment of obesity and other diseases related to it are very costly medically. People should resolve to traditional which is believed to have low levels of fat as compared to the fast and modern food. Bibliography Burniat, W 2002, Child and Adolescent Obesity: Causes and Consequences, Prevention and Management, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Essay Forum, ‘Traditional foods vs. International Fast Food (which is bad)’ Web 2012 < Viewed Nov. 18, 2012. Keller, K 2008, The Encyclopedia of Obesity, SAGE Madani, K 2000, ‘Obesity in Saudi Arabia’, Bahrain Medical Bulletin, vol. 22, no. 3 National Preventative Health Taskforce, 2009, Australia: The Healthiest Country By 2020, Commonwealth of Australia, Sydney NBCNews 2012, Fitness Sinful for Women in Saudi Arabia? Viewed Nov 18, 2012 Obesity Research Centre 2010, Patients and Public> obesity in Saudi Arabia, http://www.obesitycenter.edu.sa/Patients---Public/Obesity-in-Saudi-Arabia.aspx> Viewed Nov. 18, 2012 Glossary Australia – it is a country is South Asia Cost – the value associated to any expense Medical – treatment Physical activity – doing exercises Saudi Arabia – A country found in Middle East Traditional food – These are foods associated with previous generations are believed to be free from agents that causes modern diseases such as obesity Read More