ASSESSMENT TASK – 5(B)

OBESITY
INTRODUCTION
What is obesity?
Obesity is defined as when a person has an excessive or abnormal fat
accumulation that presents a risk to health. a body mass index greater
or equal to 30 is obesity and equal to or greater than 25 is
overweight1. obesity is one side of the double burden of malnutrition,
and at present more masses are obese them underweight. it is a major
risk factor for most of the chronic diseases and cardiovascular disease
for instance heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and
the leading cause of death worldwide1. obesity is a common, serious,
and costly disease.

Obesity in USA?
It is a major health issue in the USA. According to the national center
for health statistics at the CDC 42.4% of the adults in the USA were
obese. obese USA citizens incur an average of $1429 in medical care
yearly, and the obese American population spends approximately
$147 billion per year in added medical expenses4.
Primary causes of obesity:
•Physical inactivity: masses burn fewer calories than masses who are
active3.
•Overeating: it leads to weight gain especially if the diet is high in fat.
Various studies have shown that diets high in fat contribute to weight
gain3.
•Genetics: a person is more likely to be obese if both or single parent
is obese3.
•Social issues: there is a relationship between social issues and
obesity because of unemployment masses have no money to purchase
healthy food can increase the risk of obesity3.
•Frequency of eating: there are some reports that overweight masses
eat less often than the masses with normal weight there is a
relationship between the frequency of eating and weight3.
Consequences of obesity:
•Type 2 diabetes: it is related to central obesity (an individual with
excessive fat on the waist). the risk increases with the duration of
obesity3.
•High blood pressure is common among obese adults3.
•Heart attack: there is a risk of developing coronary artery disease3.
•Cancer: a risk factor for colon cancer in both adults, gallbladder
cancer and uterus cancer in women, and rectum cancer and prostate
cancer in men3.

Statistics of obesity in the USA:

Over 70 million adults in the United States are obese.
•In America 35 million men and 35 million women are obese.
•Among adults in 2017-2018 the prevalence of obesity was 42.4%
among those aged 20-39 years is 40.0%, in aged 40-59 years it was
44.8%, 42.8% among those aged 60 and over2.
•Among men, in 2017-2018 the prevalence of obesity was 40.3%
among those aged 20-39 years, in aged 40-59 years was 46.4%,
42.2% among those aged 60 and over2.
•Among women, in 2017-2018 the prevalence of obesity was 39.7%
among those aged 20-39 years, 43.3% among aged 50-59 and aged 60
and over2.
 figure 1: obesity among adults, men and women in age 20 and over2.

 According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

the childhood obesity rate was 18.5%5.

HEALTH ECONOMICS THEORY:

FOOD PRICES (LAST DOLLAR RULE): in a study, the price of

378 foods and beverages were monitored in the United States from
2004 to 2008. they found out that the prices of healthy food were
increased by 29.2% and the unhealthy food was increased by 16.1%
only6. The last dollar rule applies when most Americans consume
more fast food or energy-dense food because they are inexpensive and
delicious as compared to other meals. The last dollar rule is useful for
the considering cause of the recent rise in obesity.

TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE (LAST HOUR RULE):

technological change has reduced the cost of calories and increased
the cost of physical activity. it has reduced the cost of calories by
making the agricultural work more efficient and increased the cost if
the physically active by making household and market work
sedentary.
The last hour rule implies that technology change increases the
enjoyment with sedentary leisure such as television and masses will
spend more time with sedentary leisure
According to one research, Americans burn 120-140 fewer calories
than they burn 50 years ago because of the less workout and sedentary
lifestyle. it has also seen that Americans walk less than the masses in
other industrialized countries, Americans preferred to sit in their car
and go around.
According to the CDC, 80% of Americans don’t do enough exercise
because of a sedentary lifestyle.

MARKET FAILURE: Obesity is a market failure and there are few

externalities such as it not only harms the individual, but it also harms
the society through higher health insurance and health care cost7.
Information given through advertisements is asymmetric consumers
especially children not informed about the weight gain nor the long-
term consequences of being obese7.
there are four main ways society handles market failures - corporate
social responsibility, industry self-regulation, social activism, and
government intervention7.
The local government of the United States and some other countries
have tried taxes on sugar, fat, soda, and restriction on trans-fat. these
interventions have mixed results because of how much tax was
applied to what product7.

POLICY SOLUTIONS:

Tax on nutrient-dense food and subsidize healthy food: if the tax

will be increased on the nutrient-dense food then the price will
increase, and the demand will decrease for instance if the price will
increase due to tax and masses have to full cost for the nutrient-dense
food then the consumers will switch to alternatives. Tax on high sugar
and high-fat food also provide an incentive for the companies or firm
to make healthier food with less sugar or fat and to avoid the tax8.
Tax increased the price from P1 to P2 and the demand for the product
reduces the Q1 and Q28.

Restriction on sale: it means to ban the sale of nutrient-dense food in

certain places. For instance, sale of the sugary beverages should be
banned in the school. This is the direct method to control the
availability of sugary drinks a direct cause of childhood obesity. to
see the results of the policy, need the co-operation of the school and
other areas where we need to ban the sale of the sugary beverages8.

Restriction on advertisement: A government could place strict

limits on the advertisement with firms banned from children's
advertisement. for instance, in UK Chile’s strict anti-obesity
legislation means that the firms cannot use characters of the cartoon
for the advertisement of nutrient-dense food and secondly the
nutrient-dense food cannot be advertised when young children might
watch the television. they have also banned the photos of the cartoon
on Frosties. this is the simplest way to bring a change for long-term
eating habits and it is vital for the kids and young children who are
developing their eating habits and can easily be influenced by this
adverts8.

Food Labels: health warnings should be present on the labels such as

high in sugar, high in saturated fat, high in calories. another thing we
can do is to educate the masses who are going to consume the product
on the impact of food. this includes labels about the costs of the health
of various food items. there should be a small label showing
percentage reference intake. for example, when you look at the
packaging of the cookies you can see the fat content and sugar content
with the daily reference intake. but these labels are very small and can
easily be ignored. the labels should be published in front of the label
so that it can be easily visible8.
The firm will reduce the amount of fat, sugar, and salt added if the
labels will be introduced. the idea is to pressure companies into
gradually reducing the levels of calories, saturated fat, sugar, and
salt8.

Regular physical activity: we can encourage sports in schools with

co-operation with the school higher authorities9.
it increases masses total energy expenditure which will help the
masses to lose weight. But they cannot eat more to compensate for the
more calories they burn9.
Physical activity such as weightlifting, planks, pushups, and various
muscle-strengthening activities will help in building the mass on the
muscle, increasing the energy that the body needs to burn in a day
even when it’s at rest and making it easier to control the weight9.

Physical activity decreases the fat on the body and the waist which
will slow down the development of abdominal obesity9.

Statistics of physical activity in united states driving of cars increased

from 67 percent to 88 percent from 1950 to 2000. almost 40 percent
of the school children walked or use a bike to school in 1969, but in
2001 on 13 percent of children walk or ride their bikes to school9.
References:
1. Obesity [Internet]. Who.int. 2020 [cited 5 November 2020]. Available from:
https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesity#tab=tab_1
2. Products - Data Briefs - Number 360 - February 2020 [Internet]. Cdc.gov. 2020 [cited 20
November 2020]. Available from:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db360.htm
3. Obesity Definition, Charts, BMI, Causes, Treatment [Internet]. MedicineNet. 2020 [cited 20
November 2020]. Available from:
https://www.medicinenet.com/obesity_weight_loss/article.htm
4. Obesity in United States [Internet]. Who.int. 2020 [cited 20 November 2020]. Available
from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_in_the_United_States
5. Childhood Obesity Facts | Overweight & Obesity | CDC [Internet]. Cdc.gov. 2020 [cited 5
November 2020]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html
6. Monitoring the price and affordability of foods and diets globally [Internet]. obesity review.
2020 [cited 20 November 2020]. Available from:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/obr.12078
7. Combating Obesity as a Market Failure [Internet]. Michiganross.umich.edu. 2020 [cited 22
November 2020]. Available from: https://michiganross.umich.edu/rtia-articles/combating-
obesity-market-failure
8. Pettinger T. Policies to reduce obesity - Economics Help [Internet]. Economics Help. 2020
[cited 5 November 2020]. Available from:
https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/160579/economics/policies-to-reduce-obesity/
9. Physical Activity [Internet]. Obesity Prevention Source. 2020 [cited 22 November 2020].
Available from: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-
causes/physical-activity-and-obesity/