Preview

Economic Analysis Obesity

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
925 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Economic Analysis Obesity
Patience Chinhondo

Rhonda Davis

English 291-009

09/12/14

The economic analysis of obesity

I chose to evaluate a chapter of a book written by Dr Tahere Alavi Hojjat. The book is to be published in 2015. The title of the chapter I chose to evaluate is The Economic Analysis of Obesity. Dr Tahereh, a professor of Business at DeSales University, Pennsylvania. The author is credible because she holds a Ph.D in Economics. The chapter looks at the causes or major contributors to the increasing number of obese people. The author concentrates on the economic factors contributing to obesity.

The chapter is written for economics scholars and other people who understand the basic economic terms. For example, the author states that, ”the
…show more content…
The author explains that most experts only look at other non economic factors that cause obesity. She wrote the chapter to convince the readers that economic factors contribute to a greater extent to the growing obesity numbers. The chapter is a continuing discussion. Although she asserts that obesity may be contributed by other factors ,she is strongly supporting her view that economic factors contribute more than other factors. The author specifically discusses the role of the government and technology in the price of food and consumption of different foods. She also discusses the relationship between poverty and obesity in the United States. For example,” poverty has become more obvious and complex: being poor in one of the poorest countries may be associated with poor nutrition, while being poor in a developed country could mean a higher risk of obesity,”, Dr Hojjat …show more content…
The author’s supporting evidence is from credible sources, but most of her evidence is outdated. For example, the author stated that the analyses of price increase during the period of 1985-2000 for food in different categories shows that cost of sweets, fats, and caloric beverages fell substantially in relation to fresh vegetables and fruits (Economic Research Service of the USDA, 2002). She used evidence to prove her point, but her evidence is from twelve years ago. What it was back then is different from what it is today. The author has written other books including Global Food Prices, food vs fuels. Although she is an expert, I think she was biased at her judgments by making assumptions. For example, the author involved the government being liable for some of the causes of obesity, but her judgments are more of a political view than factual on that part. The chapter has a tremendous amount of assumptions from the author, which makes it a bad article for a research

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Annoted Bibliography 1

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages

    After reading it, you learn whether or not fast food chains are to blame for the nation’s obesity epidemic. It provides statistics, such as “One American Medical Association study estimates that 300,000 Americans die each year from obesity-related causes such as heart disease, diabetes and stroke,” and “Obesity levels are sky-rocketing despite the fact that…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In his article, the author explores many different reasons as to why access to healthier foods is an all-around illogical to ending the obesity crisis. He claims that ending poverty and making…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    David Zinczenko

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Even thought David Zinczenko and Radley Balko take two different approaches on whom should be blamed for obesity, they are actually in agreement that people should become more responsible with what they eat. This common ground becomes clear through Radley Balko argues its personal responsibility to choose what they out in their mouths, while David Zinczenko argues there should be more alternatives for the youth to eat then fast food. Both authors have great point about responsibility and alternative. Obesity should come to an end before it continues putting end to people’s life.…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    IMixon Assignment Unit 3

    • 561 Words
    • 2 Pages

    According to Loureiro, obesity is an emergent health problem, the World health organization (WHO) refers to obesity as a “global epidemic” (2006). Nevertheless, economists don’t know much about its causes and consequences; “obesity is not just about its additional costs to our already-straining health budgets. Obesity also creates challenges to our overall economy and to the public health (Troy, 2012 p 3 para 2).” With that said, the demand for healthcare depends on age, education income, and health status (Dewar, 2010). Furthermore, one of the most cited economic impacts of the obesity epidemic is direct medical spending.…

    • 561 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Obesity Unit 2 Essay

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Obesity is known to be one of the most public health disorder concerned globally. Some of the factors that impact obesity socially is greater exposure to fast-food advertisements, limited access to physical activity opportunities, and poor individual choices/ lifestyle choices. Furthermore according to the article, sociodemographic (age, race, ethnicity, and language) plays a huge role in obesity. For instance, low-income families are likely to face more challenges and become obese due to not being able to eat healthy. These factors of social impact and individual choices also impact biological reasons. For example, due to an individual’s choice of living and…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Point Three: The solution I propose as I mentioned before is that we encourage ourselves and the people we care for to make healthier eating choices so it will help them control or avoid obesity.…

    • 1019 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The article “Poverty and Obesity: Breaking the Link” by Susan Blumenthal, M.D. and Jean Guo, shines the light on how so many children are obese in the United State and how poverty contributes to the rise of it. Families that live in poverty, are less likely to have access to fresh and healthy food compared to wealthy families. Many different programs have started to help stop and reverse childhood obesity. Michelle Obama started programs in the school to help the kids “get up and move” and also provide healthier meals for the kids. There are many things as a nation that can be done to help reduce the risk of diabetes and other health issues, by decreasing the obesity rates.…

    • 120 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The subject of economics has always fascinated me, and I constantly find myself trying to relate economic concepts I have taken in class to real world situations. It is from this eagerness to expand my knowledge of this subject and my love of it that I decided to carry out my Extended Essay investigation in economics.…

    • 1594 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    research SOURCE NOTES

    • 1079 Words
    • 4 Pages

    obesity is a health problem, and may be one of the costs of economic progress.”…

    • 1079 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nowadays, fast food becomes a symbol of America, so as obesity. The word obesity became really popular because obesity always goes after the fast food. So, you might ask how serious the problem of obesity now in the United States is. Judith Warner gave us a really good answer to this question. In his article Junking Junk Food, he states that now we are “at a time when more than two-thirds of American adults are overweight” and approximately “17 percent of children and adolescents (aged from 2 to19 years) are obese” (401). The data tells us that obesity problem already became a big issue, even a big crisis for the American society. Fortunately, more and more American started to realize that and a war against obesity started. However, the war was not going on well since it didn’t make any big change to the situation now. There are three groups of people playing important roles in the war against obesity, which are the government, the individuals and the big corporations. Most of the people blame one of the three for our situations. They think that one of the three should take the whole responsibility for the obesity crisis. However, in fact, not only one of the three groups, but also the other two should be blamed for the obesity problem. That’s because it was the fault of all the three groups that led to the result that the war is not working well. Furthermore, it is actually our society that should be responsible for the “Obesity Crisis” since the real problem of obesity comes from all the three groups and the three groups basically makes up our society.…

    • 1437 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Preedy, VR, Watson, RR & Martin, CR 2011, Handbook of behavior, food and nutrition. Springer, New York…

    • 1915 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity observed in Ireland in recent decades poses significant threats to the health and wellbeing of the population and represents a major challenge for health services. Body mass index (BMI), defined as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in metres is a widely used indicator of overweight and obesity in adults. Adults are…

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy. mauro.zamboni@univr.it 01-05. Web. 27 May. 2012…

    • 2208 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    * The book offers a holistic coverage of the essentials of economics just enough to have a basic understanding of the science and to be able to be covered in one semester.…

    • 3047 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Obesity Problem

    • 1553 Words
    • 7 Pages

    One solution to America’s obesity epedimic is to lower the price of fruits and vegetables. The amount of fast food consumed is at an all time high and is constantly growing. America has a heavy dependency on fast food, which is “estimated to be 187kcal per day” (Flodmark 5). The production of fast food, also known as conventional food, places a burden on the environment. The fertilizer and chemicals used to develop the maximum amount of crop from a field pollutes the environment all over. When it rains, run offs from the Midwest fields lead into the Gulf of Mexico, which contribute to a giant dead zone of almost no sea life. This effects the fishing industry majorly and causes a loss of 212,000 tons of seafood every year (Walsh 34). Another flaw of the fast food industry is the conditions in which the livestock are raised. In the conventional food system, thousands of cattle and pigs “are kept in close concentrated conditions and fattened up for slaughter as fast as possible, contributing to efficiencies of scale and thus low prices” (Walsh 34). Although it has many negative outcomes, the popularity of fast food is mainly due to its extremely low prices. Fruits and vegetables are more expensive than grains; therefore the cost of cheap conventional food compared to the cost of organic food “is a principal cause of America’s obesity epidemic” (Walsh 32). As a result of cheap, calorie-heavy conventional foods, “Americans spend less…

    • 1553 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays