When walking down the bustling streets of Portland, it’s hard to consider Oregon a state that is facing an obesity problem. With multitudes of walkers, bikers and waifish hipsters, it sometimes feels like Oregon might be too healthy.
When walking down the bustling streets of Portland, it’s hard to consider Oregon a state that is facing an obesity problem. With multitudes of walkers, bikers and waifish hipsters, it sometimes feels like Oregon might be too healthy.
Unfortunately, despite the high volume of juice bars and vegan cafes, Oregon’s obesity rate runs just as high as the national trends. Sixty percent of Oregon adults are considered overweight or obese, according to research conducted in 2010 by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The same statistics show that over 23 percent of Oregon’s children are also considered overweight or obese.
Earlier this year, the Oregon House introduced a bill that would have placed a small tax on sodas and heavily sweetened beverages. Such a tax has often been compared to the taxes placed on cigarettes. The tax would have been set at half a cent per ounce of beverage, meaning a 20 ounce soda would increase in price from $1.25 to $1.35.
While not a sharp increase, the change was designed to deter buyers from investing too much in waist-stretching drinks.
The proposed tax was shot down by the legislature.
So the question is: Should government be allowed into our refrigerators and stomachs?
For years, the government has waged the war on drugs by harshly punishing those who engage in risky and unhealthy drug behaviors. Doing drugs is physically harmful and can also result in death and cause bodily harm to others.
One can see some striking similarities between the war on obesity and the war on drugs. Both are attempts to create healthy lives and environments for citizens, and both involve denying choices and access to harmful substances.
The current project of first lady Michelle Obama is to battle obesity. The “Let’s Move” campaign encourages exercise and healthy food choices. The ultimate goal is to “end childhood obesity in a single generation.”
The program’s website states that “Everyone has a role to play in reducing childhood obesity, including parents, elected officials from all levels of government, schools, health care professionals, faith-based and community-based organizations and private sector companies.”
That’s right. It even says faith-based community organizations.
Even Jesus doesn’t want you to be fat.
While it is a good to want citizens to be healthy, there is also the problem of choice. Those who decide to eat a carton of Twinkies have the right to do so. Educating someone on the risks of an unhealthy diet is one thing, but taking the cotton candy out of their hand and slapping them on the back of the head is another.
Everyone can do more to be healthy, including watching their calories, drinking more water, walking to work and staying away from junk food. It takes some discipline to enact these practices and nobody is perfect when it comes to sticking to a health regimen.
What government health involvement does is take the responsibility away from the individual. If Cheetos are removed from shelves and banned, the learning process is removed. Instead of having to consider the pros and cons of consuming a bag of orange fat, one simply accepts that they cannot eat them.
Instead of focusing on weight choices, we should be focusing on behavioral choices. When saying that the war in question is on obesity instead of unhealthy habits, the mind automatically goes toward physical appearance. The problem here is that the American ideal of physical health and the reality of physical health are two entirely different pictures.
Already women and men are subjected to the media’s idealized versions on beauty and fitness. The war on obesity is a continued reiteration of that ideology. Instead of creating educated citizens who know when to snack and when to refrain, the goal sounds more like making an army of twig-thin supermodels.
There are many issues at play in the proposed war on obesity. The implications are that there are going to be winners and losers, when really the goal should be health for all.
Instead of going to war with your body, accept the fact that it may have a few imperfections. A balanced diet and physical activity can assist in the making of a healthier person, but in the end, it’s being comfortable in your skin that really makes for an enjoyable existence.
Remember to be active and eat well, but overdoing it can be just as damaging.
