Media and advertising role in obesity

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In a condition when a person gains overweight which is serious problem for health, that condition is known as obesity. Now days it is widely spread in several countries and states. This is the serious reason of health diseases, fatigue and other problems. Several problems such as heart disease and many other problems may arise from obesity or fatness. Some peoples are affected by obesity because they are genetically affected from childhood. Obesity crisis is spread throughout the world. It can also be followed that because of excess of consumption of energy intake obesity can be the result. In obesity a person becomes overweight and this affects their life routine (Kumanyika and Brownson, 2012).

In UK obesity is the major disquiet where life has been shorten up to 9 years. The person who is affected by obesity generally needs proper exercise and other therapies from which they can reduce weight otherwise it can cause several health hazard. The health professionals also start worrying when they see that their patent is affected of such problem (Barnett and Kumar, 2011). Child obesity can result in disease like heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and diabetes. 20% of boys and 17% of girls from 11 years old to 15 years old has described obese in clinically basis. Between the age of 2 to 10 14 % and 15% of children are getting obese. 6% for boys and 7% for girls from 1995 the number of obesity has raised. UK $2 billion annually estimated $50 billion and it will continue up to 2050. Moral panic has been spread because of obesity. Especially obesity is spreading hard in UK. Government is taking various strategies in protecting children from several hazards. BMI defines the mass index of body. BMI stands for Body Mass Index. BMI is checked by calculation of height (in meters) and weight (kg) (Dubé, 2010). The person who’s BMI is above 30 he is an obese person. In extreme case above 40 of BMI can be hazardous in that manner which is life risking (Delgado, 2013).

To lead a happy and healthy life avoiding excess weight or obesity every child to aged person should follow proper diet, schedule and exercise. If a person wants to be healthy and happy and active overweight should be removed from their body. Breathing problem can be seen in those people who are obese. They get tired in a very short time after doing work (Kellow, 2011). Vulnerability occurs in those children who are obese. They become lazy and dependant on their parents. Not only children but irritation arises in aged peoples also. Unbalanced diet, having junk foods, not doing exercise and yoga, improper eating and sleeping habits can be prior reason of overweight or obesity (Wilson, et.al). Obesity also reduces the confidence level in a person. They start thinking that they are ugly. These types of thought can be responsible for anxiety and stress which again can increase several diseases. So to reduce obesity a person has to be become cautious enough and it is very important that to lead a healthy and disease free life proper routine should be followed by every person from children to aged person (Health Survey for England, 2010).

When a parent or a doctor gets failures to meet the basic needs for development of a child then negligence takes place. Negligence happens when certain issues are neglected like, place like healthy issues, nutrition, education, shelter, emotional development, living accommodation, safety and segregation of child from home and desertion. When these kinds of negligence take place, the health of the child starts falling and those children who are victim of negligence for them World Health Organization (WHO) has provided certain resources which can fulfil a child’s needs (Martin et al., 2015). Very large spectrum has been covered child negligence factor where improvement is needed. For this kind of negligence family children now days in the contemporary society are facing lots of health diseases. Among them obesity is largely spread throughout the work especially in UK. Parents are not guiding the children for maintaining proper diet, routine and doing exercise in regular basis. Because of their negligence the children are becoming careless about their health which is damaging their present and future. From childhood they are victim of obesity to old age and for that reason several diseases are attacking them.

Because of dominant market force nowadays food and beverage industries in UK are also selling hybrid foods in market which has less nutrition value. Tremendous devoted marketers of food are creating negative effort by selling those hybrid foods and advertising in media about those foods. The future adult consumers and children are grasped by the food marketers because their techniques are spending much in any products.  Junk foods, fast foods and unhealthy food habits are creating disease like obesity nowadays. Not only that the unhealthy and improper food consuming is also the reason of obesity. Eating in front of TV and computer generally tends people in eating much amount of food. This process gradually develops much amount of energy in body which reduces weight and results in obesity.  Consumption of oily snacks and drinking soft cold drinks are non nutrious for health and this produces large intake of calories. If these calories are not burned by doing exercise then threatening disease like obesity takes place. UK psychological Association says that, childhood obesity is increasing morbidity level in UK (Garde, n.d, 2015.). It is widely spraying as epidemic inflammable disease in UK and many other countries. Mortality and long term economic problem is also arising in large extent because obesity is the root of several diseases and these diseases needs treatment and therapy which is the reason of investment in medicine and loss of economic condition. To get rid of such problems parents should be careful they should make their children do regular workouts and make them avoiding bad habits like computer games and sitting ideally and watching television or playing indoor games by being inactive and lazy.

Reality and fantasy cannot be differentiated by children and for that reason children are lured by marketers in unethical way to sell those foods which have less benefits for them and children cannot understand their business motives which can cause harm to them. The advertising department are creating threat for children by producing lots of advertisement in cold drinks and harmful fast foods. This advertising is creating tantrums for children; they are pushing children to adopt unhealthy food habits just to fulfil their own benefits. Concern should be created by parents to reduce such unhealthy habits of children which can create obesity and life threatening diseases. They should make their children understand the adverse effects of such products and make them acknowledge with good and healthy habits. American Psychological Association said that, girls are specially affected when their weight increases. Their dissatisfaction increases and they are affected by anxiety and trauma when their body weight increases and they become the victim of obesity (Gulland, 2016).

Many teenagers and adult boys and girls are health conscious. They are concern about the healthy habits such as good eating habit and exercises by avoiding junk food and beverages.  In recent days Advertisement has become very attractive in television and social networks which attract children towards buying them. Even there are many advertisements of therapies and medicines which are used for reducing weight. This type of advertisement is showcased by giving examples of 0 size models. But the fact is that without doing exercise and consuming weight loss medicines cannot reduce weight of individuals or cannot make them zero size. These are the fake advertisement just made for the own profit of marketing industries which generally grabs the attention of the consumers who are affected by obesity and are finding short cut methods of reducing weight. Generally for a fit and fine body work out and nourishment is very necessary. It is very necessary to have balance diet where all nutrition’s like protein, vitamin, carbohydrate, minerals and fat is present. These things are available in fruits, vegetables, milk, egg, chicken and fish. If proper consumption of these in a balanced process is done then people specially children will not face problem like obesity and several other life threatening diseases (Barriers to Exercise in Younger and Older Non-Exercising Adult Women: A Cross Sectional Study in London, United Kingdom, 2010). This nourishment process can act as medicine in our body where other chemical medicinal helps and several therapies are not needed.

Many times it is hard for the parents to make their children believe that whatever shown in the advertisement is not true. It can be said that advertisement departments does it for their own profit but it is not ethical to make those advertisement for children who attracts them. Advertisement promotion makes the children happy because many times it is shown in a colourful way. The psychologist says that the advertisers knows the social and gradual needs of the children and they also knows the emotional thoughts of the children and in that way they make way out by promoting ads to convince and motivate children. By research it has been proved that the advertisement companies knows the fantasy and imaginative world of children and by acknowledging that through web designing and animation process they craft ads in that process which can give mind pleasure to the children. These things are done by those companies to make money. Many advertisements are unethical because it does not make the children know the side effects of those foods in larger aspect throughout long term affect in life which can cause threat to their daily schedule, their health, their progressive ways and their active life.

Children love tasty and sweet foods, so in market foods available for them contains large amount of sugar and fat which increases calories. This has created conflict with national dietary departments. High amount of promotion of sweets, candies, chocolates, fast foods and soft drink with high amount of fat are the reason for which children are becoming overweight and victims of obesity. Obesity also makes a child socially isolated because when they become overweight people starts doing bullying with them which effects their sentiments and this is the reason of their depression, hypertension, high or low pressure and diabetes. These diseases arise with mental stress. It is stated by Nemours Foundation that, The United States has enwrapped by child obesity. Among 4 children 2 can be found over weight. Overweight does not shows cuteness in a child but it shows that the child is in risk. UK has been proved fattest nation in the world because of the food relation the people had made. Just for satisfaction of desires peoples are in taking wrong foods and have forgotten the real nurture and nourishment value of food. In the busy schedule of life fast foods are playing such active roles that the fast food industries are raising and peoples heaths are falling.

Commercials in TV are promoted in high number to keep their merchandise placement. Consumer Report magazine describes that young children and small children are unable to distinguish between real life and ads. They think that whatever is showing is the television is true. Children from age of 2 years to five years cannot understand what regular TV program is and what commercial ads are, this has been found in research done by American Psychological Association.

The advertisement board and marketing industry expose distortment and vulnerability in children by pushing ads and creating pressure on their eating habits. Sometimes they find their favourite celebrities are doing those ads which attract their interest in more passionate way. Even junk food promotion is also done by marketers in school campus, social gatherings of kids, clubs and organization to attract interest of children on those foods. Children Now stated that, about $15 is spent by company from billions of years which taking children from cradle to grave, just for increasing their market profit.

Toys inside the foods such as chips and chocolates are available nowadays which increases the children attraction. Children tend to buy those product and helpless parents are bound to give it to their child. This type of bias in food should not be done by marketers just for their own profit. It has been requested to the marketing and advertisement department they should do the promotion of healthy foods in this process which they generally apply for the junk foods and soft drinks.

Fast food can be compared to drugs because once a child starts eating fast food they gets addicted and want to consume that only because of its good taste. Fast foods are like liquor and cigarettes which creates various diseases including obesity (Freswick, 2014). The food and beverage industry is not raising advertisement in fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans and whole grains. Much unhealthy foods promotion is shown on television which can be harmful for children and adults. Children are so emotionally attached to those foods that they cannot get rid of such harmful habits and because of their inactiveness they cannot imply good habits in their life which can be proved beneficial for them. The foods which has more taste and flavour makes children emotionally attached with them and their consumption habits of those foods increases which results them to become obese.

A literally view is conducted by Tucker in his journal article that, children food choice is done on the base of advertisement (Vashishtha, 2010). The more they see any product, the more they prefer to buy it without thinking its good or bad affect. Barclay in 2011 said that government has said that encouragement of junk food advertisement should be reduced because it is the main reason of the ill health of children. Restriction of those advertisement has been ordered by government and new process development ads should be shown in TV that how to fight against obesity. Ofcom department has banned junk food advertisement and also restricted to show celebrities in advertisement (Pryke, 2014). Controversy has been spread that after doing such restriction 37% of children has seen advertisement of junk foods which has increased the good food values and healthy habits have been accepted by the children. But from 2012 again those advertisements has increased and these are again affecting on children.

Sometime parents are responsible for the downfall of health of their child because just to save their time they make their children habituated with junk foods. This should not be done by any parents; they should make their children aware of the bad habits of the junk foods and start them making eat good brand foods with proper nutrition value. If good food habits are made from childhood then the children will not suffer lifelong but will live a healthy life (Murthy, et al, 2012). So parents should see that their children should not adopt the bad eating habits affected by television because the advertisement and marketing department just promote those ads for their own profit purpose and everyone should see that as advertisement department is creating obesity problems so they should not be supported. In this essay the role of advertisement in obesity is described and its issues and controversies are also briefly discussed to make people aware from serious problems which are caused by obesity

References:

Barnett, A. and Kumar, S. (2011). Obesity and diabetes. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Barriers to Exercise in Younger and Older Non-Exercising Adult Women: A Cross Sectional Study in London, United Kingdom. (2010). Molecular Diversity Preservation International.

Craig, R. and Mindell, J. (2011). Health survey for England 2010. London: NHS Information Centre.

Delgado, M. (2013). Social justice and the urban obesity crisis. New York: Columbia University Press.

Dubé, L. (2010). Obesity prevention. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.

Freswick, P. (2014). Artificial Sweetened Beverages and Pediatric Obesity: The Controversy Continues. Children, 1(1), pp.31-39.

Garde, A. (n.d.)(2015). The Regulation of Food Advertising and Obesity Prevention in Europe: What Role for the European Union?. SSRN Electronic Journal.

Gulland, A. (2016). WHO calls for tax on sugary drinks to tackle child obesity. BMJ, p.i475.

Kellow, J., Costain, L. and Beeken, L. (2011). The calorie carb and fat bible 2011. Peterborough: Weight Loss Resources.

Kumanyika, S. and Brownson, R. (2012). Handbook of obesity prevention. New York: Springer.

Martin, A., Bland, R., Connelly, A. and Reilly, J. (2015). Impact of adherence to WHO infant feeding recommendations on later risk of obesity and non-communicable diseases: systematic review. Matern Child Nutr, p.n/a-n/a.

Murthy, A., Goldberg, R. and Cardamone, S. (2012). Obesity controversy. Open Access Journal of Contraception, p.1.

Pryke, R. (2014). Child obesity: who is measuring who? And what?. Perspectives in Public Health, 134(2), pp.76-77.

Vashishtha, V. (2010). Advertisement of food products for children: A tale of legality, ethics and indifference. Indian Pediatr, 47(10), pp.857-859.

Wilson, F., Gormley, J. and Hussey, J. (2011). Exercise therapy in the management of musculoskeletal disorders. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

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