Good health is the key to carrying out one’s functions in the society. Hindered with this vital property of life, maximizing one’s potential growth and questing for one’s personal objective would be a difficult endeavor (Importance of Good Health, 2017). May the aspect be on occupational success, socio-emotional space, or personality building, health touches the over-all well-being of a person. Despite this wholesome ideal, a surfacing problem called obesity is on the run in diminishing social functions. Facing the world with obesity can make a person’s life tough and unbearable. This complements Parsons’ (1951) assertion that “ill health impairs our ability to perform our roles in society, and if too many people are unhealthy, society’s functioning and stability suffer.” As an area of concern, obesity restricts several social, physical, and psychological facets of one’s health (Sahifa, 2013).
Obesity undermines the social aspect of a person’s well-being. While the world battles global hunger and malnutrition, a heightened concentration on a new global problem – obesity – has increased in the lens of international prevalence more than double since 1980 (Gonzales, 2012). Unfortunately, the global field is no prone to obesity and its bearings. Murray & Ng (2013) connoted in their study that nearly 30% or 2.1 billion of the world’s population is either obese or overweight. This interest has amplified as confining in overweight or obese status over time puts an individual at danger for many diseases and conditions (as cited in World Health Organization, 2011). With this, diseases lead to ill health and limit people from fully accomplishing their social roles and in turn give a relative low return or function to society (Parsons, 1951). Today, experts affirm that obesity is the chief contributor to chronic diseases worldwide (Gonzales, 2013). Not only does it affect increased risk for health problems but also it impacts the socio-emotional health of individuals. With a society favoring thin and fit-looking people, Sheehan (2010) affirms that the stigmatization poses barriers in social health through a meek social acceptance and discrimination which later involves emotional distresses such as anxiety and low self-esteem. Additionally, Weitz (2013) emphasized that a person with health-problems would necessitate receiving healthcare professional diagnosis and maintenance medicine, both requiring fiscal imbursement. As meant by Lee (2016), obesity is “wreaking fiscal havoc.” Consequently, this affects social functions as people’s budget diminish, their social spheres also subside, thus, reducing their social functionality and accessibility in the society.
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Equally, obesity poses physical challenges along with its social barriers. Obesity has become a massive international adversity that has stipulated among states of affluent economies. However, the Philippines, a third-world country, appallingly experienced a hysterical trend in obesity rates. As of 2014, the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) reported that the prevalence of obesity in the Philippines spiked from 5.2% to 6.8% while there were 23.6% on overweight rates as provided by the Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (Tacio, 2017). Not only does obesity impairs people of their social roles through emotional and economic movement but also it affects the physical well-being of individuals by posing additional health risks. Adair (2012) finds out in her study that there exists a dramatic trend in the number of cardiovascular diseases, Diabetes II, and Hypertension among Filipinos given obesity as a risk factor. With this, the physical health of an individual including a heightened morbidity and mortality rate with a depleting life expectancy value are synchronously intertwined (Djalalinia, 2015). Tacio (2017) further adds that Philippines tops 4th in the highest spender for obesity-related problems in an ASEAN report. The situation of obesity in the Philippines remains a worrying trend. In a study conducted by United Nation’s International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a 400% spike of obesity prevalence was identified in Filipino children below 5 years old (Angara, 2017). There was also a change from 1% to 5% prevalence rate of obesity in the years 1992 to 2013, said Angara.
Locally, obesity demonstrates a worsening psychological dilemma among individuals. Due to a strike in its prevalence, obesity produces continuous health degradation due to existing unhealthy lifestyles residents take indifferently. As obesity become more invasive in the global and national context, a perception of “ordinariness” of this disease curdle into the urban center — Manila. This “ordinary” notion of obesity makes the mitigation difficult than ever. Aside the normalized view of people in obesity, psychological risk factors also emerge as one of obesity’s consequences. Winter (2009) explains that as primarily seen negatively by society, obese individuals often adopt and digest these views, hence, increasing mood and anxiety disorders. She also acknowledges obesity acquainted with frustration, uncomfortability, and loss of motivation. Imposed with these risks, the denizen in Malate area is subject to higher proneness to overweight and obesity. Thus, completing tasks as an individual-in-the-society becomes even slower and more burdensome.
As obesity and weight management issues remain untouched, living out functions in the society, allocating of income budgets, and promoting of an “ordinary” perception on obesity will all be worse and difficult. If this will persist, people will become unproductive, the community will have problems in its workforce, and essentially similar, the economy of the country will slacken, and if individuals cannot function customarily in their social roles, a need to change lifestyles and address common barriers in a healthy well-being must be intended to make them productive. In all aspects, obesity promises no significant return. Therefore, there is a consistent necessity to conduct an investigative profiling on facets of obesity and weight management for the situation to be understood and substantially mitigated.
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