Obesity is a chronic relapsing disease that results in many health issues, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (Farha 1). The average person globally is gaining weight, and if current trends continue, all adults will be overweight by 2048 (Wang 1). Obesity is a dangerous social epidemic that can be fought with dieting and physical activity, increased access to quality food and education, and societal pressure on those that are affected to lose weight. Working out and eating well is the most effective solution, but isn’t available to everyone, especially groups who are most affected by this epidemic. Overweight is becoming normal, and it may be impossible for society to become healthier.
A healthy lifestyle eliminates and prevents obesity on the personal level, and it works well, but it is underutilized. In 2016, 39% of adults worldwide were overweight and 13% obese (WHO 1). Today, only about 14% of adults in America have gym memberships (Younghans 1). There are more overweight people than there are people that work out. Dieting and exercise are the most straightforward ways to combat or prevent the negative health effects of being overweight, but the physical difficulty of these methods makes them unappealing to many. These are people that can work out and choose not to. A more significant issue within the obesity epidemic is those that want to be healthier but do not have access to the necessary resources.
Not everyone has access to physical activity resources or awareness, especially the groups that are most disproportionately affected. Obesity is concentrated among Black women and Mexican American men, which demographically make up sizable portions of lower-income neighborhoods and ethnic enclaves (Wang 1). These communities do not have opportunities that others do, which makes fighting obesity a harder battle. One interview was done by Science and Community: Ending Obesity Improving Health (S&C) to show the effect that obesity has on different demographics:
Interviewees (n = 12 women and 10 men) were mostly Hispanic/Latino (n = 9) and African American (n = 7). Common problems identified were childhood obesity, balancing a healthy diet and physical inactivity. Interviewees identified obesity as a major problem in their communities and cited access to quality food and physical activity resources as a problem (Mama 1).
Increased access to quality food and health awareness would help these communities and those with similar disadvantages fight back against the obesity epidemic, where it is the hardest to fight.
Another solution to this epidemic is seen often, as people use societal ideals to pressure the overweight or obese to change. It addresses the issue with the first solution that working out is hard and therefore not appealing, and can encourage people to pursue health, but it is not a practical way of making the world healthier. One will only change if they genuinely want to, and the beauty standards that we are encouraged to conform to are always changing. As the average person gets bigger, so do the models. Some believe that allowing overweight people to be represented in beauty or fashion encourages unhealthy behavior, but “fat-shaming” is not a good part of society, even if it is a characteristic of a healthier society (Younghans 1).
Today there is bariatric surgery, such as gastric bypass and liposuction, for those that want to lose weight without changing their routines. The expansion of the internet and social media has spread awareness and knowledge of healthy living. Society’s standards have changed so that overweightness is represented in the media and entertainment. One would think that the world would have gotten farther away from obesity, but the global population is approaching it at record speed (Wang 1). Progress has been made, but not enough.
Dieting and exercise are the best ways to prevent the negative health effects related to obesity and being overweight, but they aren’t always attainable. Expanded access and awareness around the globe is necessary to see a healthy adult population for the next generation.
Kafka would agree that alienation and social pressure is not an effective way to fight the obesity epidemic. He may also believe that this epidemic is not able to be solved.
In The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka tells the story of Gregor Samsa, whose appearance causes him to become alienated by everyone including his family. Initially, Gregor is a man that provides for his family, paying the bills and always respectful towards his parents and sister despite their apathetic attitude towards him. But one morning he “awakes, transformed into a bug. He's cut off from his work, family, and even the majority of his home” (Matthews 1). Samsa is psychologically still himself, but his body takes the shape of a huge insect that everyone is disgusted by. He can no longer function like a human, and though his family initially cares for him, their true feelings come to light in physical altercations and private conversation. They ostracize a man they once depended on because his physical appearance became unacceptable.
Gregor’s image causes him to be dehumanized by his family, and his value as a son or brother is completely lost because of their adamant disgust towards him. He goes “from being a regular human being (able to work and provide) to being an oddity in a regular world and not being able to show himself as he comes” (Gardner 1).
This is like the societal pressure felt by the overweight or obese population of America. The criticism does not solve the issue and it does not address the real problem. Overweight people are criticized for how they look when the actual danger is their health. Bad health decisions lead to obesity, but instead of promoting good health decisions, most critics chastise the physical appearance of the overweight (Elizabeth 1). In The Metamorphosis, Samsa’s family should really be concerned about the fact that his life will never be the same. They should care about what happened to make him that way, but they’re instead focused on the result of his appearance. Samsa’s family only cared about how the problem affected their own lives, instead of how it was affecting Gregor’s life. And like in real life, the criticism only further isolated the target, which only worsened the problem.
Increased dissociation and less contact with the outside world lead Samsa to act more like an insect because he could not interact with humans. This is comparable to the obesity issue, as increased criticism of obesity seems to only make the average weight rise:
“America’s war against fat is actually what is helping cause the disease it is striving to cure. More specifically, fat activists believe that the war on fat is highly publicized, which in turn creates public fear and loathing for a nonthreatening form of human diversity that will provide a great amount of political and economic interest as result of a body-obsessed society that is constantly striving to be considered acceptable” (Elizabeth 1).
In the end, Samsa is alone and unloved, and the segregation and apathy he was subjected to did nothing to ameliorate his existence (Matthews 1). The recently increased animosity towards overweight people because of their looks has only led to a rise in obesity and overweight rates in America, which is proof that isolation cannot solve this social problem (Elizabeth 1).
The similarities between Gregor Samsa in the Metamorphosis and the obesity epidemic in America are not purposeful. However, they show Kafka’s attitude towards forced dissociation and criticism. His beliefs on the epidemic, would he be alive today, are clear: widespread social pressure focused on the effect of a problem instead of the problem itself will not change society.
Works Cited
Elizabeth, Shannon, M.S. “Fat or Fiction? A Debate over the ‘Obesity Epidemic.’” Strong Is The New Beautiful, Strong Is The New Beautiful, 9 May 2013, https://strong-is-the-new-beautiful.org/2013/05/09/fat-or-fiction-a-debate-over-the-obesity-epidemic/
Farha, J., Abbarh, S., Haq, Z. et al. Endobariatrics and Metabolic Endoscopy: Can We Solve the Obesity Epidemic with Our Scope?. Curr Gastroenterol Rep 22, 60 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11894-020-00798-8
Mama, SK, Soltero, EG, Ledoux, TA, Gallagher, MR and Lee, RE. Nursing Inquiry 2014; 21: 192– 201 Solving the obesity epidemic: voices from the community
Matthews, Ian. “The Metamorphosis by Kafka | The Metamorphosis Setting - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.Com.” Study.Com, Study.com, 22 Sept. 2019, https://study.com/academy/lesson/setting-of-the-metamorphosis-analysis-significance.html
“The Gardner”. “Translating ‘The Metamorphosis’: The Deeper Meaning In The Novella.” Kafka Garden, Kafka Garden, 30 May 2019, https://www.kafkagarden.com/translating-the-metamorphosis/
Wang, Y., Beydoun, M.A., Liang, L., Caballero, B. and Kumanyika, S.K. (2008), Will All Americans Become Overweight or Obese? Estimating the Progression and Cost of the US Obesity Epidemic. Obesity, 16: 2323-2330. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2008.351
WHO. “Obesity.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 5 July 2022, https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesity
Younghans, Johanna. “‘Fat Shaming’ Won’t Solve Obesity. Science Might.” Michigan Medicine, Michigan Medicine, 17 Sept. 2019, https://labblog.uofmhealth.org/body-work/fat-shaming-wont-solve-obesity-science-might