Joe Nano The obesity epidemic in the United States has grown out of control. Over the past 35 years, obesity rates have more than doubled. The average American is more than 24 pounds heavier today than in 1960. To provide some context for the magnitude of the current obesity rate in the U.S., more than a third of adults (34.9 percent) were obese as of 2011 to 2012. More than two-‐thirds of adults were overweight or obese (68.5 percent). Approximately 16.9 percent of children (ages 2 to 19) were obese in 2011 to 2012, and 31.8 percent were either overweight or obese. Rates of both obesity and severe obesity are continuing to increase among both adults and children in America. The associated health problems that result from obesity have resulted in an estimated annual medical cost of $190 billion and have surpassed the medical costs associated with tobacco use. Yet medical costs are just one of the several negative impacts the epidemic has had on our society. In order to cure the epidemic that is plaguing our nation we must change existing policy and enact new policies on both the governmental and organizational level before the repercussions are insurmountable.
B u c k n e l l U n i v e r s i t y T h e S t a k e h o l d e r O r g a n i z a t i o n : M G M T 3 0 2 P r o f e s s o r J o r d i C o m a s
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Fat America: The Obesity Epidemic
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Fat America: The Obesity Epidemic 2
Executive Summary The obesity epidemic in the United States has become not only an individual
problem, but also a national problem—even for those citizens whom are not obese
themselves. The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $190
billion in 2012 U.S. dollars; the annual medical costs for obese men and women
were $1,152 and $3,613 higher than individuals of normal weight, respectively.1
The staggering medical cost of obesity in the U.S. has overtaken the national medical
costs associated with smoking as the number one public health concern when it
comes to cost.2 Yet there are many other costs associated with obesity that are
commonly overlooked such as the loss of productivity both in and out of the
workplace which I will further delve into in the body of this paper.
The policies of the United States Federal Government has worked to further
the interest of corporations that are providing American consumers with the fatty
foods that have played a key role in the rising obesity rates in the country. In order
to prevent the negative implications that the epidemic has had on our society both
the government and organizations must work together for the interests of their
shared constituents, the American people. Although lowering the current rate of
obesity in America is not something that can be achieved overnight, if we do not
take action as a society soon, the exponential growth of obesity will grow along with
the numerous severe repercussions associated with the disorder on our society.
1 http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/04/30/obesity-‐now-‐costs-‐americans-‐more-‐in-‐healthcare-‐costs-‐than-‐smoking/ 2 http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
Fat America: The Obesity Epidemic 3
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ..................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ................................................................................................................. 4
The State of Obesity in America ................................................................................... 5 The Epidemic’s Rapid Growth .............................................................................................................................. 5 Obesity Rates Remain High ................................................................................................................................... 5 Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Obesity .......................................................................................................... 6 Socioeconomic Status: A Strong Correlation to Obesity ........................................................................... 7
The Societal Costs of Obesity ....................................................................................... 8 Lost Productivity ........................................................................................................................................................ 9 Medical Costs ............................................................................................................................................................ 10 The Longevity of the Obese ................................................................................................................................ 11
Uncle Sam Wants You to Get Super Sized ................................................................... 11 The Roots of Obesity in America ...................................................................................................................... 11 Governmental Policy: Uncle Sam is for a Fatter America ...................................................................... 13 The Steps to Recovery: How to Cure the Obesity Epidemic ......................................... 15 Step One: Governmental Policy Changes ...................................................................................................... 15 Step Two: Changes on the Organizational Level ....................................................................................... 16 Schools .......................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Responsible Players in the Food Industry ..................................................................................................... 18
Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 20
Works Cited ............................................................................................................... 22
Introduction Obesity is a complex disorder, which is characterized by an excessive amount
of body fat. An individual is likely to be diagnosed as obese if their body mass index
(BMI) is 30 or higher.3 Your body mass index is calculated by dividing your weight
in kilograms (kg) by your height in meters (m) squared. Obesity is not just a
concern in regards to the individual’s cosmetic (or physical) appearance; it is also a
major health risk. Obesity increases an individual’s risk to certain diseases and
health problems such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of
cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death.4
The obesity epidemic in the United States has become not only an individual
problem, but also a national problem—even for those citizens whom are not obese
themselves. The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $190
billion in 2012 U.S. dollars; the annual medical costs for obese men and women
were $1,152 and $3,613 higher than individuals of normal weight, respectively.5
The staggering medical cost of obesity in the U.S. has overtaken the national medical
costs associated with smoking as the number one public health concern when it
comes to cost.3
The United States’ obesity problem must be changed for the both the
betterment of those with the disorder and other citizens of the country, which has
been plagued by the resulting impactions of an increasingly obese population. This
3 http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-‐conditions/obesity/basics/symptoms/con-‐20014834 4 http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html 5 http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/04/30/obesity-‐now-‐costs-‐americans-‐more-‐in-‐healthcare-‐costs-‐than-‐smoking/
paper will show the means by which we can combat the obesity epidemic that has
continued to plague the nation. Yet, in order to successfully stave off the epidemic, it
will require a combination changes at the governmental and organizational level.
The State of Obesity in America
The Epidemic’s Rapid Growth In the United States, obesity rates among both children and adults have risen
drastically putting millions of Americans’ health at risk due to the health problems
that are associated with obesity. Over the past 35 years, obesity rates have more
than doubled.6 From 2009 to 2010 to 2011 to 2012, rates remained the same.6 The
average American is more than 24 pounds heavier today than in 1960.6 Childhood
obesity rates have more than tripled since 1980.6 The rates have remained the same
for the past 10 years.6 The growth of obesity in the United States is staggering.
Obesity Rates Remain High
Moreover, obesity and severe obesity rates in the U.S. continue to increase
among both adults and children in the United States. To
provide some context for the magnitude of the obesity
epidemic, more than a third of adults (34.9 percent) were
obese as of 2011 to 2012.6 More than two-‐thirds of adults
were overweight or obese (68.5 percent). 6 Approximately
16.9 percent of children (ages 2 to 19) were obese in 2011
6 http://stateofobesity.org/obesity-‐rates-‐trends-‐overview/
to 2012, and 31.8 percent were either overweight or obese.7 Rates of severe obesity
are continuing to increase in adults, and more than one-‐in-‐ten children becomes
obese as early as the ages of 2 to 57.
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Obesity Minorities in America are experiencing even higher rates of obesity when
compared with Whites. This is in part due to the inequities that persist in income
and education with minorities, as poorer and less educated Americans are
experiencing higher rates of obesity than more affluent and higher educated
populations. To give this some context 47.8 percent of African Americans, 42.5
percent of Latinos, 32.6 percent of Whites and 10.8 percent of Asian Americans
were obese (2011 to 2012). 7 With the average obesity for all American adults as of
2011-‐2012 at 34.9%, it is clear that obesity rates are substantially higher for
minority populations as Black and Latino obesity rates are 12.9% and 7.6% higher,
7 http://stateofobesity.org/obesity-‐rates-‐trends-‐overview/
respectively.8 Furthermore, in relation to the White obesity rates, Black and Latino
obesity rates are 15.2% and 9.9% higher, respectively.8 These higher obesity rates
among minority populations are consistent with the trend of individuals of lower
socioeconomic status being directly correlation to high obesity rates.
Socioeconomic Status: A Strong Correlation to Obesity In 2012, a study was done which examined data from the Behavioral Risk
Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) that looked at income, level of schooling
completed and obesity rates.
The study found strong
correlations between obesity
and income, and between
obesity and education. Over
35 percent of adults age 26
and older who did not
graduate high school were obese, compared with 22.1 percent of those who
graduated from college or technical college.8 Thirty-‐three percent of adults who
earn less than $15,000 per year were obese, compared with 25.4 percent of those
who earned at least $50,000 per year.8 Another study of obesity, income and
education was done with date from the 2005-‐2008 National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey (NHANES). The study found that among men, obesity
prevalence is similar at all income levels whereas among women obesity prevalence
increases as income decreases.8 The study also found that among men, education 8 http://stateofobesity.org/socioeconomics-‐obesity/
level is not significantly related to obesity prevalence, but among women obesity
prevalence increases as education decreases8. Low Income and minimal education
among women is very strongly correlated to obesity.
The Societal Costs of Obesity
Obesity rates are rising at an alarming rate in the United States. But, if you’re
not obese why does it matter to you? Does this epidemic even affect you? The
answer to both of these questions is yes. As I stated before in the introduction, the
estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $190 billion in 2012 U.S.
dollars; the annual medical costs for obese men and women were $1,152 and $3,613
higher than those of normal weight, respectively.9 These aforementioned medical
costs of obesity stem from a variety of implications, ranging from the increased
insurance premiums we all pay to subsidize the added medical charges incurred by
obese individuals to the surprisingly dramatic impact our collective pounds has on
energy costs.9 According to Sheldon Jacobson of the University of Illinois, the extra
weight carried by vehicles as a result of obese and overweight Americans is
responsible for almost one billion additional gallons of gasoline being burned each 9 http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/04/30/obesity-‐now-‐costs-‐americans-‐more-‐in-‐healthcare-‐costs-‐than-‐smoking/
year by our automobiles—nearly 1 percent of our total gasoline usage10. Using
today’s oil prices, even though recently the price of oil has significantly decreased,
this would amount to $2.66 billion dollars.11 In terms of carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions, these one billion additional gallons of gas—due to the extra weight
carried by vehicles as a result of overweight Americans—emits 19.64 billion pounds
of C02 emissions.12 This is minor in respect to the following societal impacts of the
obesity epidemic that I will speak about next, yet it shows how even such an obscure
implication of obesity has a significant impact on our nation both monetarily and
environmentally.
Lost Productivity The health problems associated with obesity result in a loss of productivity in
the United States, as the obese and severely obese are absent from work more
frequently than people of healthy weight. The most obese men take 5.9 more sick
days a year; the most obese women, 9.4 days more.10 Obesity-‐related absenteeism
costs employers as much as $6.4 billion a year, health economists led by Eric
Finkelstein of Duke University calculated.10 However, even when these obese
workers are not kept at home due to a weight related illness, such workers aren’t as
productive as they suffer from shortness of breath or other obstacles detrimental to
productivity. Such a loss of productivity is due to obesity-‐related “presenteeism,” or
the act of attending work while sick. A study showed that the very obese lose one
month of productive work per year, costing employers an average of $3,792 per 10 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/30/us-‐obesity-‐idUSBRE83T0C820120430 11 http://www.fuelgaugereport.com 12 http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=307&t=11
very obese male worker and $3,037 per female.13 Total annual cost of presenteeism
due to obesity was calculated to be an astounding $30 billion.13
Employers are not the only ones who suffer from the repercussion of obesity
on productivity in the workplace. Obese workers’ decreased productivity has
proved to reduce wages as employers penalize less productive workers. Several
studies have shown that the obese are less likely to be hired and promoted than
their healthy colleagues. Women in particular bear the brunt of that implication,
earning about 11 percent less than women of healthy weight, health economist John
Cawley of Cornell University found.13 At the average weekly U.S. wage of $669 in
2010, that's a $76 weekly and $3,952 annually obesity tax.13
Medical Costs When obese workers are not hurting productivity while in the work place,
because they must take a sick day for an obesity related illness, the medical costs
associated with the epidemic keep accruing. Obese men rack up an additional
$1,152 a year in medical spending, especially for hospitalizations and prescription
drugs, Cawley and Chad Meyerhoefer of Lehigh University reported in January in the
Journal of Health Economics.13 Obese women account for an extra $3,613 a year.13
Using data from 9,852 men (average BMI: 28) and 13,837 women (average BMI: 27)
ages 20 to 64, among whom 28 percent were obese, the researchers found even
higher costs among the uninsured: annual medical spending for an obese person
was $3,271 compared with $512 for the non-‐obese.13 Nationally, this factor alone
costs Americans $190 billion a year in additional medical spending as a result of 13 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/30/us-‐obesity-‐idUSBRE83T0C820120430
obesity, calculated Cawley, or a total of 20.6 percent of the United States’ entire
health care expenditures.14
The Longevity of the Obese With these incredibly high medical costs and the aforementioned health
problems associated with obesity, surely these individuals must have shorter life
expectancies. This is what researchers suspected for years, that the higher medical
costs of obesity might be offset by the possibility that the obese would die young,
and thus never rack up spending for nursing homes, Alzheimer's care, and other
pricey items. This is what happened to smokers, and thus is why researchers
hypothesized that it would also be the case with the obese population, but the obese
have proved resilient. Beta blockers for heart disease, diabetes drugs, and other
treatments are keeping the obese alive longer, with the result that they incur
astronomically high medical expenses in old age just like their slimmer peers.14 As
obesity rates continue to rise in the United States, the obese will get older and more
people will become obese furthering the already excessive medical costs incurred by
the American people.
Uncle Sam Wants You to Get Super Sized
The Roots of Obesity in America What has led to the astoundingly high growth in obesity rates in the United
States? Junk food. Fast food and processed foods are a staple of American diets and
are a key contributor to the fattening of the American people. According to a Gallup 14 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/30/us-‐obesity-‐idUSBRE83T0C820120430
poll, eight in 10 Americans report eating at fast-‐food restaurants at least monthly,
with almost half saying they eat fast food at least weekly.15 Only 4% of Americans
say they never eat at fast-‐food restaurants15. Americans are not ignorant to the fact
that these foods are lacking in nutritional value and unhealthy, 76% of people in the
U.S. think the food served in fast-‐food restaurants is "not too good" or "not good at
all for you.”15 Clearly American’s are heavily reliant on such fatty foods and they
know such foods are bad for them, but why?
The appeal of these junk food products to the American people is largely due
to their relatively low cost, their tastiness, and the convenience. The typically low
cost of fast foods is highly appealing to many Americans, but surprisingly the low
cost is not as appealing to low-‐income individuals as it is to wealthier Americans.
Wealthier Americans—those earning $75,000 a year or more—are more likely to eat
fast food at least weekly (51%) than are lower-‐income groups.15 Those earning the
least actually are the least likely to eat fast food weekly—39% of Americans earning
less than $20,000 a year do so.15 This discrepancy is, in part, the tastiness and
convenience that the industry knows appeals to its consumers.
Michael Moss, a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist for the New
York Times describes such foods as “weaponized” as they artificially manipulate
their products to make them addicting to the consumer: “They prefer words like
alluring, craveable, smackable. But the aim is the same, which is to create the perfect
formula and amounts of salt, sugar and fat that will send us over the moon and make
15 http://www.gallup.com/poll/163868/fast-‐food-‐major-‐part-‐diet.aspx
their products irresistible.”16 Moss explains how major players in the food industry
manipulate one of the ingredients that make their products so tasty—salt.
Salt manufacturers convert [salt] into just all kinds of shapes and sizes aimed at perfecting its use in various processed foods, from very fine powders that dissolve in soup to the kosher-‐style pyramid salt that dissolves three times faster and is sold as having the biggest flavor burst in foods.16
Artificially chemically engineered ‘salt’ is just one of the additives these food giants
use to hook their junkies. The other major additives that send their consumers over
the moon are corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, cornstarch, and vegetable
shortening. Corn and soybeans are the two main crops that are processed into
theses additives. To the American consumer the low cost, convenience, and
tastiness of fast food and processed foods outweighs the associated health concerns.
Yet, governmental policies that should try and combat the issue continue to support
the industry that is making more and more Americans obese every year and
increasing the associated detrimental effects of obesity.
Governmental Policy: Uncle Sam is for a Fatter America
Long-‐standing federal agriculture policies have provided hundreds of billions
of dollars to these crops that are responsible for fueling the obesity epidemic in the
country. Congress and the Department of Agriculture are
spending more than $1.28 billion annually to subsidize the
crops that are used as additives in manufacturing cookies,
candies, soda pop and other highly popular junk food that
arguably are among the primary contributors to childhood
16 http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/03/28/you-‐are-‐what-‐-‐you-‐eat
obesity.17 Of the $277 billion spent on farm subsidy programs since 1995, about
$81.7 billion went to subsidize corn and $26.3 billion went for soybeans.17 In a sign
of the political clout of the biggest producers, 75 percent of the all those subsidies
have gone to just 3.8 percent of U.S. farmers. In contrast, the government has
provided only $637 million for apples or vegetables.17 Moss further describes the
shocking truth of how industry lobbyists have shaped our governmental policies to
further obesity in the country.
I was stunned that, in many cases, the government agencies that are supposed to be regulating the processes in the food industry are not. And the cheese example is a great one. The government incentivized the dairy industry to make so much cheese it piled up. Then Washington created a scheme that allows the industry to raise tens of millions of dollars for marketing to get us to eat more cheese as an additive in cooking and processed foods. Our cheese consumption has tripled since the 70s, and it's now the No. 1 source of all that saturated fat we're getting.18
By 2030, half of all Americans will be overweight, adding tens of billions of dollars
more to the annual cost of treating them.17 However, the government continues to
pass favorable legislation that, with tax payer dollars, provides hundreds of billions
of dollars to the industry which already contributes to the immense annual cost of
obesity in the United States. In June of 2012, the U.S. Senate overwhelming
approved new farm legislation that will cost taxpayers nearly $1 trillion over the
coming decade.17 The current governmental policies not only continue to burn a
whole in the wallets of their tax payers, but are also detrimental to Americans as
they further increase both the rates of obesity and costs associated with the obesity
epidemic.
17 http://www.businessinsider.com/billions-‐in-‐tax-‐dollars-‐subsidize-‐the-‐junk-‐food-‐industry-‐2012-‐7 18 http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/03/28/you-‐are-‐what-‐-‐you-‐eat
The Steps to Recovery: How to Cure the Obesity Epidemic
Step One: Governmental Policy Changes The first step, on the road to recovery from the addiction of fatty foods that
are currently a major part of Americans’ diets, is to change the governmental
policies that continue to promote the food industry’s manipulation of American
consumers with their chemically enhanced artificially flavorful foods. The
governmental policies, in respect to food and agriculture, should work towards
promoting healthier and nutritious foods, which would result in healthier diets and
healthier Americans. Further policies should also be implemented to stifle the
growth of both fatty foods and the use of crops to create the additives that
artificially enhance the flavor of these foods.
Although the 2014 Farm Bill included several nutrition-‐related provisions,
The Department of Agriculture should ensure such provisions are implemented
both effectively and in a timely manner.19 Furthermore, the federal agricultural
subsidies which are primarily allocated towards corn and soybeans (the main crops
that are used to be processed into additives) should be allocated more towards
fruits and vegetables and the subsidies that are provided for such crops should be
restricted in regards to their use in producing such food “weaponizing” additives.
Such a restriction would help prevent the foods that are artificially enhanced with
additives from being produced as producing the unhealthy additives would be more
expensive. Firms who continued to sell these crops for the purpose of producing
additives would not receive a government subsidy. Thus, the firms purchasing these
19 http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/2014-‐farm-‐bill-‐by-‐numbers/
crops to use as additives to their fatty foods would have to incur the increased cost
of the crop from their suppliers due to the lack of a government sponsored subsidy
which originally mitigated the full cost.
To further promote a more nutritious diet among Americans, the government
could also impose a higher corporate tax rate or a higher sales tax for such fatty
foods. The tax revenues provided by these policies would help offset the costs
associated with the obesity problem in the country as well as provide funding for
new nutritional subsidies to promote a healthier America.
These proposed policy changes are similar in nature to the governmental
policies imposed on the tobacco industry that were the result of the industries
negative effect on the health of Americans. Now that the medical costs of obesity in
the United States has surpassed that of health related issues to smoking, such a
policy change seems fitting. These policies, when implemented upon the tobacco
industry, proved effective in providing the country revenues to offset the costs
incurred by the detrimental health effect of their product. If the federal government
took such a stance on fatty foods in imposing these policies on the food and
agricultural industry, it would set a precedent for Americans impelling them to
strive to live healthier lifestyles.
Step Two: Changes on the Organizational Level
Schools Child obesity rates are at an all time high. Schools are the best place to teach
the American youth how to live a healthy lifestyle, as they will maintain the habits
they learn as a child into adulthood. First, we must take steps to ensure that only
healthy food options are being provided to students in order to develop healthy
eating habits while they are young so they can carry those habits on into their later
lives. We must also promote the importance and time allotted to physical activity
(i.e. exercise). Schools are the medium by which the United States can stop its
obesity epidemic at the source and prevent future generation of Americans from
become obese, ultimately lowering the country’s obesity rates.
While their has been regulation imposed to make foods offered at schools
around the country healthier, the USDA should continue to monitor state and local
implementation of both updated school meal and snack food and beverage
standards and provide adequate training and technical assistance where needed to
states, localities, industry and school nutrition organizations.20 Additionally,
adequate funding should be provided to schools that lack the necessary tools and
resources to provide healthy meals that meet USDA nutritional standards.
Physical activity, whether it is on the playground or during gym class, is a
necessity to keep the youth active. This is becoming increasingly important, as
technology has made children more inclined to sit behind a screen rather than play
outside during their leisure time. The NFL’s NFL PLAY 60 program is one initiative
that is intended to help promote kids to get active and play outside, “NFL athletes
grew up playing in communities all across
America. Now, through NFL PLAY 60, they're
encouraging kids in neighborhoods
everywhere to come out to play for 60 minutes
20 http://stateofobesity.org/school-‐foods/
a day.”21 Not only is physical activity important at a young age to stay fit and
healthy, it also allows kids to develop interest in sports and other outdoor activities
that they can continue to pursue as they grow older. Fostering these interest at a
young age will help prevent kids from staying behind their TVs and computer
screens and teach them to stay fit through exercise because a healthy diet is just one
of the ingredients to a healthy lifestyle.
By teaching Americans at a young age how to stay healthy we’ll be more
successful in keeping them away from the addictive enhanced fatty foods and
unhealthy habits that were the causes of our current obesity epidemic. Ensuring the
youth of America develops habits conducive to a healthy lifestyle will help us in
mitigating the future costs of obesity while also preventing that cost from
continuing to increase the burden of the epidemic on the taxpayer. The current rate
of obesity among adults will be hard to change as those individuals have already
developed the habits that are characteristic of an unhealthy lifestyle, thus the youth
are our best chance of curing the country of the epidemic.
Responsible Players in the Food Industry With the aforementioned policy changes implemented by the federal
government in the food and agriculture industry, in order to operate as a successful
firm in the food and agricultural space, firms will have to adapt a health oriented
business strategy. Firms who have already acted responsibly and provided their
consumers with healthy and nutritional products will have a competitive advantage
to their fatty food counterparts. The firms who continue to offer unhealthy products 21 http://www.nflrush.com/play60
will be out competed by their healthy competitors in the long run if they cannot
successfully introduce new healthy products. Thus, the policy changes will work to
change the marketplace in the food industry and make it more conducive to
changing the currently unhealthy diet of Americans.
Firms who continue to offer fatty foods will incur higher costs due to the
increased costs of the crops they use to process into additives and higher costs due
to higher taxation on such products from the corporate side. These costs will force
firms to raise their prices to maintain their profit margins, yet their revenues will
suffer from the increased sales tax for such goods on their consumers, which will
reduce the demand for their product.
Currently we have seen companies such as PepsiCo be on the forefront of
acting responsibly, before such aforementioned proposed regulation is
implemented in the industry. While they still maintain several brands that contain
additives that are unhealthy for consumers, they have created and developed
several healthy brands. PepsiCo’s two healthy “product porfolios” are called Better-‐
for-‐You and Good-‐for-‐You (as seen right).22
Already having such a portfolio of products will
allow PepsiCo to have a competitive and succeed
in the new health conscious marketplace
compared to its competitors in the food and
beverage industry.
22 http://www.pepsico.com/annual10/products/good-‐for-‐you.html
Socially responsible firms who already offer healthy and nutritional products
will outperform their competing firms in the industry that offer unhealthy products
in the long run. As the youth of America grows into adulthood they will maintain
the habits they developed as children and constitute the majority of American
consumers. The performance of the firms that have not acted socially responsible
and offered products that were unhealthy, but were tasty due to their use of
additives that manipulated their consumer into taste bud addicts, will justifiably
suffer from their failure to act in the best interest of their stakeholder (i.e. their
customers and the entirety of the American people who are incurring the costs that
have resulted from the obesity epidemic).
Conclusion
While it may take time for the effect of these changes in policy on both the
governmental and organizational level to achieve the ends of a healthier society, the
obesity epidemic is of paramount importance to the long run success of the United
States as a whole. The societal costs of the epidemic are already unprecedented. If
obesity rates to continue to rise, as a result of us not taking action to cure this
epidemic that has plagued our nation, the monetary and social costs on our society
will prove extraordinary as they continue to rapidly increase. Our government and
the organizations within our society must strive to act in the best interest of their
constituents, rather than the best interests of themselves whether that be through
kickback received through lobbyist or compensation earned by executives. If
organizations within our society do not act together to fight to cure the epidemic, we
may be unable to reverse the repercussions as they continue to magnify without
intervention.
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