In a study in the journal Economics and Human Biology, Oxford University researchers found that Americans and Britons are much more likely to be obese than Norwegians and Swedes, and suggested that the stress of life in a competitive social system without a strong welfare state may cause people to overeat. Full Story »
Posted by Sally Lehrman - via Mehmet Ekrem Koseterzi (f)
This is an interesting science story but correlation is not the same as causation. The reporter should have given us more context about the research methodology and the researchers' credentials in this area so that readers could better evaluate their claims. An interpretation by others in the field would also have helped. The topic is an important one, so deserves better treatment. In addition, the photo on the Reuters page is offensive. Why do stories about obese people always feature a photo shot from the rear?
While this article is very newsworthy and interesting, I found that it lacked supporting statistics to convince me that the story was true. Oxford researchers are certainly a valid source, but the author could have expanded on the study when he said that free market countries experience "one-third" more obesity than others. I felt like that statement was too bare to really tell me anything. Nonetheless, this article comes at a relevant time as we are still in poor economic times and presents alarming news. People have to deal with many social factors that can be dangerous to one's health such as insecurity. Obesity is a major problem that will be better controlled in the future as scientists continue to find the healthiest ... More »
Comparing four “market-liberal” English-speaking countries — the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia — with seven relatively wealthy ... More »
This article seems to blame society's institutions for obesity in its citizens. The article seems to lack a lot of direct factual evidence, but it suggests that economic instability and lack of welfare/security causes obesity. It does not seem to address why this insecurity causes obesity though. Does the insecurity cause stress which causes overeating? It states that it's not the mere wealth and availability of cheap fast foods that is causing the obesity, since the more secure ... More »
The rise of obesity in America has been the center of widespread media attention. This article illustrates a new approach when it comes to examining the problem. The author feels there are “larger social causes” responsible for the epidemic, and considers current policies that “tend to focus on encouraging people to look after themselves” ineffective. He places it in a societal frame, finding that greater economic insecurity, in large, developed countries, is strongly linked ... More »
By pinpointing a specific health issue, the author opens up a particular culture to more scrutiny. The obesity numbers in the US have been rising, this is no secret, although the reasoning behind this has long been a debate. This article poses yet another possible cause, one that is interesting to consider. The author writes about the wealth of a country increases the number of obese persons. While this may be a valid consideration when you compare the US to smaller nations, it challenges the idea that has been proposed for a significant amount of time. That being the economic fall in the US has lead to more obesity.The US culture is what bears the burden for the lack of good health in this country according to this article. The ... More »
This is an important topic that should really be investigated on a deeper level. I would have liked to see a bit more information about how the research was done, rather than just the countries that were compared. It was interesting, however, that "countries with higher levels of job and income security were associated with lower levels of obesity". I feel like many facets of society--family, culture, government, and society as a whole--bear the burden of responsibility for good ... More »
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