Obesity and Culture: a Hand in Hand Relationship

The issue of obesity and culture today is one that many have looked into. Not only do these two have a cause and effect relationship, it is also interesting to see how obesity has changed our culture.

Obesity and culture are definitely related; our culture has become so quick and as a result, our lifestyles have changed to incorporate our need to keep up the pace. The effect of obesity and culture can be seen in everything from the expanding clothing sizes to meal size.

Food Portions

When visiting a restaurant, our meals can now be super sized leading to generations of people that have no idea what a healthy portion size should be. Even getting a meal at a sit down restaurant can lead a person to the wrong idea of what should be eaten at a meal. These meal sizes are not in balance with what is required to maintain a healthy weight.

Some restaurants are realizing this and are working towards offering a healthier portion, but consumers need to be buying into the newer sized models and realize this is what should be eaten at a meal. The super size craze has been exposed in movies and in other forms of the media. Consumers are beginning to see that there is a direct result of obesity and culture. People can change their habits and this would have an impact on the increase of obesity.

Clothing Sizes

Another interesting fact associated with obesity and culture has to do with our clothing sizes. As generation has gone on, not only do we naturally get taller we also are getting larger. In the 1960"s the average man weighed 166 pounds and was just about 5' 8", in 2002 a man was around 5' 9" and weighed 191 pounds. A woman in the 1960's was about 5'3 inches and weighed 140 pounds. In 2002, the average height of a woman was 5'4" and weight is 160 pounds.

There is a natural increase in height, but the weight has risen substantially. This has an impact on our sizes in clothing. Designers now offer many larger sizes than they did years ago and this is a trend that will continue. The relationship between obesity and culture can be seen in several ways. The direct result of offering larger meals has an impact on the amount we eat and then on our size. As a society it is important to be aware of this link and the ability to change it.

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