Modern Attitudes
Weight Loss & Diet Details
In modern Western cultures, the obese body shape is not widely considered attractive, not many positive stereotypes are commonly associated with obese people. Children, adolescents and obese adults may also face a heavy social stigma.
Obese children are often the target of abuse and are often rejected by their peers. Although rates of obesity are increasing among all social classes in the western world, obesity is often seen as a sign of low socioeconomic status. Most people that have experienced negative thoughts about their body image, and some of them take drastic measures to try to change their diet including the use of drugs including surgery.
Not all contemporary cultures disapprove of obesity. There are many cultures which traditionally more approving (to varying degrees) of obesity, including some African cultures, Arabs and Indians in the Pacific islands. Especially in recent decades, obesity has begun to be viewed more as a medical condition in modern Western culture has even referred to as an epidemic.
Recently it has emerged a small but noisy movement for fat acceptance that seeks to remove discrimination based on weight. Support groups and acceptance of obesity; have begun proceedings to defend the rights of the obese and to prevent their social exclusion.
Some notable figures within this movement,
argue that the social stigma about obesity is based on the cultural anxiety and
public concern about health risks associated with obesity are inappropriately
used as a rationalization of this stigma.
Government agencies and private medicine have warned Americans for years about
the adverse health effects associated with overweight and obesity. Despite
warnings, the problem is becoming worse. In 2004, the CDC reported that 66.3%
of adults in the
The cause in most cases is the sedentary
lifestyle, approximately 40% of adults in the
Overweight and obesity are easily determined using the body mass index (BMI); this index uses height and weight to determine body fat. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, and any value over 30 is obese. Individuals with a BMI above 30 increases the risk of several health hazards.
