More and more people are getting overweight. Some people think that increasing the price of fattening food items can solve this problem. Do you agree or disagree?
Nowadays, obesity has almost become an epidemic, which has encouraged many to believe that making edible items that contain excessive fat can help resolve this problem. I disagree with this idea because people are not becoming fat due to cheap food options, and increasing the prices will not help.
To start with, costly unhealthy food cannot solve the problem because eating habits are not affected by prices at all. These are influenced by lifestyles people are leading today. Most are working over time at their offices or are excessively engaged in their academics, leaving them with little time and energy to cook. Consequently, they eat whatever they find and rarely consider the price. For example, in Finland, the prices of extra-fat beef were hiked by the Finnish authorities, thinking it would push consumers to opt for healthier beef, but surprisingly, there was no change in the sales pattern.
Moreover, obesity is not caused by diet alone. It is linked to lifestyle, physical activity , and work patterns. People working long hours avoid physical activity, due to exhaustion they face. Similarly, technology also plays a role in this physical condition. People spend more time on phones, computers, or watching TV, and avoid physical activity. In addition, lack of awareness about nutrition can lead to poor food choices. Likewise, the environment also plays a role in this, if there are no safe parks and spaces to exercise, people are less likely to stay active. These factors are responsible for causing corpulence, and expensive fattening foods cannot do little to avert this situation.
In my opinion, the problem of obesity cannot be solved in this way. More awareness about healthy eating should be created, and better food options should be made available to all people.