Obesity Personal Responsibility Essay

598 Words3 Pages

Obesity is often associated with a weakness of will, as an illness brought on by oneself.
If Energy taken in and used has a direct relationship with body mass [FAT - Gard and Wright 2005] then obese people must knowingly be consuming too much energy and not burning it off. The concept of personal responsibility for obesity is a hotly contested subject. With some suggesting that because you ultimately control what you put in your mouth an obese person is the only one to blame for their weight gain. If there is truly a genetic or medical reason for the sudden influx of obesity cases then why isn't this reflected across the globe. If obesity occurred regardless of what and how much was eaten and the amount of energy burned then surely we would …show more content…

GPs in the UK do not believe that obesity belongs to the medical domain. They believe that obesity is caused by psychological, social and behavioural factors and only endorse a medical solution if they believe obesity is caused by biological factors. [http://www.pec-journal.com/article/S0738-3991(07)00476-4/fulltext] Accordingly, interventions against obesity can be viewed as tools for moral disdain. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17651875?dopt=Abstract] However is this causing those who are obese to avoid getting help and therefore remaining in the same condition or even deteriorating and developing further complications. Fat people often avoid going to the doctor for fear of being weighed and then judged with the belief that the healthcare system views them negatively. That they are lazy, stupid, non-compliant and worthless and their obesity is caused by a lack of willpower. [FAT - pg 68] So morally, is obesity purely due to the person themself, caused only by weakness of will and therefore a moral