CHOICE Voice

A flowchart illustrating all the causes of obesity resembles the scrawling of an excited child.

“It’s absolutely accurate”, obesity expert Boyd Swinburn assures, “Because most things surrounding this global epidemic are interconnected.”

The illustration also brings home an important point – just because we know the determinants of a problem doesn’t mean it will lead us to a viable solution.

Recent studies show a range of factors affecting differences in individual body weight. The variation in obesity rates seems to depend largely on environmental and cultural factors including eating habits rather than how wealthy a country is.

A simple explanation is that when food is abundant and cheap, people will consume more of it. But corporations also play an important role in affecting our food choices, Professor Swinburn says.

“The rising level of food consumption is a sign of commercial succeess but economic failure. The fact that we are consuming a lot is a mark of good commerce – but is it really meeting our needs? Our choices are often dominated by the fulfillment of short term desires.”

Professor Swinburn suggests that corporations should play a part in working out a solution by:

• Supporting government policy actions for improved public health
• Banning marketing to children
• Labelling with traffic lights
• Making nutritional claims that are realistic

CHOICE’s position on responses to the obesity epidemic can be found on our campaign page.