Why campaigns to end obesity will fail ?

(This translation of my original post is not the best one. So, be indulgent !)

In United States, where Michelle Obama and her program “Let’s move” addresses childhood obesity, where Congress thinks that a serving of tomato paste on pizza is a serving of vegetable, where Department of children and Family Services in Cleveland withdraws an 8-year-old boy from his family because he is obese (90 kg), shows us that anything about obesity has important issues. Now, let’s put things in perspective. Before accusing Congress, before attacking the agribusiness complex, before applaud initiatives from Michelle Obama and Department of Children and Family Services, it is still necessary to ask why these opposing discourses are possible. My assumption is:

 We must probably assume that the rise of obesity in Western countries is largely a reflection of inequality in income distribution.

From a strictly economic point of view, all campaigns to end obesity are largely doomed, because socioeconomic issues are deteriorating day by day for middle classes and poors. When most of your income is used to house and move to work, or when your credit card has reached its limit and your income goes to pay the credit card, your house and your travel to work for a minimum wage, you are not in a position to buy fresh vegetables, fruits, lean meat, and fish. So when you are at the supermarket, you directly go to products that require no preparation, which are quickly served, which quickly provide a feeling of fullness and meet your energy needs.

The dominant discourse is about health and lifestyle and we can not be against virtue. Unfortunately, eating fresh food, exercising and avoiding recurrent stress are less accessible to more people, for the simple reason that socioeconomic issues are deteriorating for more and more people. How to fix this situation ? In fact, this question is a wrong question. We should rather ask : “Why the current discourse about health tends to include all segments of the population, while it is primarily intended for those who have the income to be in good health ?” Maybe, for the most parts, obesity find its way through income issues.

©  Pierre Fraser, 2011 / Santéisme