You are what you eat

The startling societal costs of obesity

Jacques Marcoux, Volunteer Staff

Fat people are poor decision-makers. It needed to be said.

If you’re offended by that remark, then you’re likely part of the 23 per cent of overweight Canadians that are obese.

Last week, I was shocked to see a special report on the CBC lamenting the incredibly long waiting lists in the Canadian health-care system for gastric by-pass surgery, a procedure that essentially shrinks the stomach through surgical means to decrease appetite. I was shocked, not because of the terribly long waiting lists for patients in desperate need of help, but rather, because the procedures are actually covered by provincial health-care plans for those meeting the criteria. To the other 77 per cent of the Canadian population: that’s your money.

Ironically, certain insurance providers in the United States are more than happy to cover the cost of the surgery, estimated at approximately $20,000. After crunching the numbers, they figure that over the long term it is cheaper to “cure” the problem immediately than it is to bear the cost of paying for a lifetime of chronic obesity-related ailments.

Characterized as a “global epidemic” by the World Health Organization, obesity has unfortunately managed to tip-toe its way into the realm of “disease” alongside cancer, diabetes and arthritis — and no one seems to care. Why is that a problem? It is a problem because obesity is not a disease, it is a decision. To those preparing to cry out and invoke the “genes” argument, please hold your breath — genes don’t change this drastically over night, if at all. The simple fact that obesity rates have nearly doubled in the past 20 years is a clear indication that the growing waistlines are the result of lifestyle choices.

Allowing overweight individuals to wipe their hands clean of responsibility by providing them with the “disease” outlet, whether for self-esteem purposes — or in the case of gastric by-pass surgery, for cost-saving purposes — is akin to sweeping the problem under the carpet. As a clear sign of the dangerous path this is leading us down, mainstream culture is beginning to embrace obesity. The problem is that when plus-size celebrities start proudly pronouncing, “Big is beautiful,” and, “Love your body at any size,” it becomes a glorification for obesity.

To their defence, there is much evidence to suggest that overweight individuals are victimized unjustly; hence the movement to combat this form of discrimination. However, it is one thing to accept equal rights for overweight individuals and yet another to accept obesity as “normal.” Let’s be clear here: obesity is not normal. It is unhealthy and wasteful.

It has been estimated that obesity now accounts for nearly 10 per cent of health care costs in Manitoba, and the figure is expected to continue growing. Now with individuals flocking to get obesity surgeries as though it were a cure to their problems, we can expect the burden to increasingly weigh down on our already strained health-care system.

Over 2,000 of these stomach surgeries are performed annually in Canada, with many more being sent south of the border to help alleviate waiting lists; evidence that we prefer the quick, superficial fix over the long-term and sustainable solutions. Obese individuals often have other serious issues which have allowed them to regress into such poor health in the first place. The use of medication, sleep deprivation, busy schedules, depression, poor diet, and low levels of activity— all of these are at the root cause of obesity — and yet are nearly always ignored when there is discussion of treatment.

To bring home the point, consider that airlines across North America were inexplicably spending more money on jet fuel than ever before over the past 20 years and could not explain the strange phenomenon. After several studies they eventually discovered that the culprit was in fact the extra ten pounds of fat that the average passenger was carrying on board, which when added up amounts to a few tons. Further to the point, even car manufacturers have been increasing the width of car seats inches at a time, trying in vain to keep up with super-sized consumers.

How truly pathetic have we become? Individuals are actually undergoing surgery on tax-payers’ money to shrink their stomach to prevent them from over-eating. We have lost such control over our lives that we can no longer restrain how much food we eat in a day. If you think about that for a moment, you soon realize how completely backwards the whole situation actually has become. It is absurdity at its finest.

I cannot emphasize enough how this problem has nothing to do with disease. Losing weight is not easy, nor is it likely to be done without the support of others; but at the end of the day it all comes down to a simple mathematical equation between calories consumed versus calories burned. It has everything to do with responsibility and choice.

Jacques Marcoux is a commerce graduate.