Welcome to our first issue of the Language Exepress!

The public health war carried out by Cancer Research UK on obesity, defined as a broad, health-based set of policies and programs designed to control the growing threat of the obesity epidemic and related chronic diseases(Salas 79), has attached great importance on the latent threats obesity poses to global health. But the globe-based health campaign has been bombarded continuously by indignant accusations from anti “fat-shame” parties, who consider their advocacy stigmatizes and exhibits implicit discrimination upon obesity.

 

When examining the premises behind those accusations against public health response, it is easy to draw out the underlying logical fallacy: simplification of complexity. They simplify the compounded factors of obesity, layered health indications of obesity and epidemic social impact of obesity. Ineffectiveness of their arguments has been attributed to: 1) lope-sided emphasis on socio-environmental factors of obesity and lack of introspective consciousness, which leads to the conclusion that obesity is hardly preventable; 2) inappropriate focus on simplistic fact of weight rather than health outcome, for which obese people angle the health campaign in a negative manner; 3) ignorance of obesity as a public health issue rather than a simple message of body shape on individual level---ignorance of its epidemic and disastrous impact on societal level.

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But the fact is, simplifying the complex fact of obesity is identical with playing down the problem, which only leads to weaker attention towards individual health outcomes and severer consequences on a social level. No one benefits from “the simplicity of weight”, not even people who suffer from obesity and who get only temporarily superficial comforts but little substantial cures. Only when admitting the complexity of the phenomenon of obesity can auxiliary measures be available, and can the prevalence of obesity be possibly decelerated even stemmed. Consequently, instead of simplifying or eluding the facts of obesity, the public should be urged to make brave and honest judgments about obesity. Scaled-up campaigns like that of Cancer Research UK encourages the public to face straightforward towards the complexity and severity of this health problem, including its multifaceted determinants, remarkable health outcomes, epidemic social influence and possibilities to prevent.

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According to the research by Cancer Research UK, it gives a forthright answer to “Does obesity causes cancer”--- being overweight doesn’t mean that someone will definitely develop cancer. But if a person is overweight they are more likely to get cancer than if they are a healthy weight. In the research, the campaign stresses on three things:1) obesity is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer worldwide---more than 1 in 20 cancer cases are caused by excess weight; 2) Obesity is caused by there being more calories in what someone eats and drinks than they burn through physical activity. The world around us makes a big difference because it makes healthy choices more difficult; 3)The good news is small changes that are kept up over time can make a real difference.(Cancer Research UK) Respectively, in terms of causes, outcomes, impacts and preventability, the health campaign hold different views from anti-“fat shame” parties.

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Rather than one-sided focus on socio-environmental factors, the health campaign actually targets at both individual-level and system-level determinants of health. Unlike the anti-“fat sham” group, it addresses the complex drivers of obesity by focusing on both individual-level (behavioural, psychological, and early life factors) and system-level (socio-environmental) stimulus of health(Salas 79). Dissenters of the campaign claim that physical fatness is triggered by unavoidable external causes: People suffering from obesity do not become obese willingly; they are scapegoats of unfavorable environment preventing the maintenance of trim figures. Their explanation is nothing but playing down the issue of obesity and passing the buck to others, such as unfavorable food environment, specific genotype, etc. However, obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of individual-level and system-level factors, including excessive food intake, lack of physical activity, genetic susceptibility and so on(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). A number of reviews have also found certain aspects of personality are associated with being obese. Neuroticism, impulsivity, and sensitivity to reward are more common in people who are obese while conscientiousness and self-control are less common in them(Cancer Research UK). Only by exhausting the underpinning causes of obesity from all perspectives can prevention be possible; in contrast, efforts to evade certain “unfavorable” causes turn out in vain, because one cannot prescribe for a malady unless one diagnoses it accurately and fully understand its causes.

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The campaign adjusts public attention to the right direction, from reinforcement on numbers of weight or body difference to scientifically proved health outcomes. Once adjusting the emphasis from simple numbers to honest facts, it can be found that the so-called “body bias” or “fat shame” is a presumption: those who internalize their difference in body shape and reinforce weight differences to become interpersonal disparities, presumptuously alienate themselves from people of optimal figures, because they exaggerate the relevance between physical appearance and social recognition. So the untenable preconceived notion of “fat shame” is more an abashment obese people impose on themselves, rather than extraneous discrimination exerted on them. If people suffering from obesity can face their health problem honestly and straightforward as other people suffering from other health problems who modestly seek for causes and cures, they will be able to reinterpret the significance of public health practices, that during the health campaign, guidelines and models are provided not to criticize overweight but to support improved health. An example that is gaining increasing recognition is the Health At Every Size approach, which promotes self-acceptance and healthy day-to-day practices, regardless of whether a person’s weight changes. The Edmonton Obesity Staging System is also increasingly being used as a way to assess health based on risk behaviours rather than weight(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

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Another thing to be noticed is that, obesity has to do with not only individuals’ responsibility for weight and health, but public health issue. Its epidemic and disastrous universality is shown in numbers of statistics and clinical studies: the menaces posed by obesity have to do with individuals’ mortality and morbidity; more importantly, the fact that obesity has become a public health and policy problem because of its prevalence, costs, and health effects calls for significant attention. The World Health Organization predicts that overweight and obesity may soon replace more traditional public health concerns such as undernutrition and infectious diseases as the most significant cause of poor health. Globally, according to WHO statistics, 44 percent of diabetes, 23 percent of ischemic heart disease, and as much as 41 percent of certain cancers can be attributed to overweight and obesity(Sharma&Kushner 92). Obesity is as nonnegligible as any other health problems that poses great threats to public health. How could a disease be normalized if it risks a mass of human lives?

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With the concern that both socio-environmental and individual factors account for the issue, and severe public health outcome prioritize anything else, a variety of treatments are now available for obesity, which proves that dangers brought by obesity are preventable. As for socio-environmental factors, there are many different strategies that can contribute to healthy food environments. These include 1) providing incentives for supermarkets or farmers’ markets to establish their businesses in underserved areas; 2) having nutrition information and caloric content on restaurant and fast food menus; and 3) applying nutrition standards in child care facilities, schools, hospitals, and worksites.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) As for individual life styles, changes to diet and exercising are the main treatments. Medications can be used, along with a suitable diet, to reduce appetite or decrease fat absorption. As a result, even if the food environment is unfriendly to fit-keeping, those aware of the importance of fit-keeping always find ways and devote efforts to minimizing possible harms brought by either social environment or personal choices. In that respect, obesity is positively preventable.

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Only by scientific research can people become aware of the compounded factors, complex health indications, social impact and preventability. As a result, instead of shifting off responsibilities and sidestepping the sensitive health issue, active participation and cooperation will be wiser choices for people suffering from obesity.

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Work Cited:

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Bacon L, Aphramor L. “Weight science: Evaluating the evidence for a paradigm      shift.” Nutrition Journal. 2011;10(1):9–21.

Cancer Research UK. “Does Obesity Cause Cancer.” 30.11.2018

<https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/obesity-weight        -and-cancer/does-obesity-cause-cancer>

Cancer Research UK. “Risks of Obesity.” 30.11.2018

<https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/risk>

Cancer Research UK. “What Causes Obesity.” 30.11.2018

<https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/obesity-weight        -and-cancer/what-causes-obesity>

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 30.11.2018

<https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/division-information/aboutus/index.htm>

Daníelsdóttir S, Burgard D, Oliver-Pyatt W. “AED guidelines for childhood obesity            prevention programs.” Updated 2009. 30.11.2018

<http://www.aedweb.org/web/index.php/23-get-involved/position-statements/90-          aed-statement-on-body-shaming-and-weight-prejudice-in-public-endeavors-to-re          duce-obesity-4.>

Salas, Ximena Ramos. “The ineffectiveness and unintended consequences of the   public health war on obesity.” Canadian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 106, No. 2    (2015), pp. e79-e81

Sharma AM, Kushner RF. “A proposed clinical staging system for obesity.” (2009),             33(3):89–95.

Very Well Health. “Obesity Treatment” 29.11.2018

<https://www.verywellhealth.com/obesity-treatment-4014272>