Obesity and the World
(and how we can address it)
Entering my third year in the Medical Sciences program, my schedule was full of basic science courses covering genetics, biochemistry, and physiology—all important in understanding the workings of the body. When I saw the Honors seminar addressing the Obesity Epidemic, I felt it would be the perfect application of that knowledge toward a societal issue.
We discussed the root causes of obesity, including the pathophysiology, the complex environmental and behavioral causes, as well as the ethical, social and legal implications that accompany it, both in the micro and macro environments of healthcare. A lot of this was achieved through reading scientific articles and reviews, but our primary activity in class was discussing the societal approaches toward the epidemic. Like many other issues in healthcare, this is complex and there’s no single answers to the many issues stemming from an obesogenic culture.
For our final project, we were set in the future and were tasked with addressing an ever-growing crisis in obesity. To do this, we had to scrutinize the hurdles to controlling and preventing obesity, including cultural, economic, and agricultural influences, as well as the omnipresent role of the media. We developed a multi-tiered approach to reduce both short and long-term consequences of obesity, while also addressing the many economic and mental health burdens that the obesity crisis presents to both individuals and society.