The Solution to Obesity in America

“More than one third of America is considered to have a BMI (Body Mass Index of 30 and
above” (NIH, 2019). More simply, obesity in America is becoming a serious issue. After all, in
the states of Kentucky and Louisiana, the origins of KFC and Popeyes, it is a tradition to
smother dinner in liters of broiling oil. Combined with the lack of exercise appears the
inevitable weight gain of 114.5 million Americans, costing the nation $147 billion every year
(CHC, n.d.)! The most common solution to obesity is exercising; however, faced with
occasionally attending an exercise class or getting an early introduction to the chap with the
dark cloak and the big scythe, 6 out of 10 would prefer the option which didn't involve the
incredible drag of finding their trainers (Ellen, 2007). If this is what they prefer, why not give
these people what they want? Therefore, to solve America’s obesity issue, the best,
completely free solution is to kill the obese through an easy one-step diet called starvation.
The implementation of this proposal is extremely straightfoward as every store in America
will simply be prohibited from selling food to obese people. In turn, America will enjoy
economic prosperity, better access to resources, and physical, psychological and social
benefits.

The simplicity and effectiveness of this solution is unrivalled by any other, producing
immense economic benefits. The impact of obesity on the U.S. economy has eclipsed $1.7
trillion, an amount equivalent to 9.3% of the nation's GDP (Scuffham, 2017). This is because
obesity is linked with higher risks for diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, stroke, and arthritis. In
turn, direct medical spending on these conditions has been skyrocketing alongside
America’s obesity rates (Hammond, 2010). Furthermore, extensive losses in productivity are
incurred; for example, absenteeism (first-order productivity costs due to employees being
absent from work for obesity-related health reasons) and presenteeism (decreased
productivity of employees while at work) has resulted in an annual loss of $6.38 billion
(Hammond, 2010)! Thus, once all obese people have been starved to death, the absence of
the condition will allow America to prosper as more can be spent on improving facilities,
infrastructure, and education - instead of funding the health of obese people who were going
to die soon anyway. However, some may argue that altering one’s overall daily lifestyle is
better than starvation. This is attainable, but is not effective in ways that starvation is.
Altering one’s daily food plan is an extensive amount of work for an obese person who is
already preoccupied with deciding whether they should have chocolate pudding or chocolate
ice cream. Alternatively, starving to death takes little effort, but will reduce obesity rates to
0% in not years, not months, but merely 3 weeks (Spector, 2008)! Therefore, starving the
obese to death is the most effective solution to obesity and will also stabilise America’s
economy.

Eradicating obese people will also allow for equal resource distribution through increasing
their availability. While many linger around and grasp onto the arm rests of the couch to
finally pull them out of their chair, only to reach into the couch to consume another potato
chip, the rest of America has to suffer great losses due to this lazy species. For example, in
2017, unequal resource distribution due to reasons such as obesity led to 40 million people
struggling with hunger in the United States (Do Something, n.d.). It has come to the point
where obesity is denying others of their human rights! Thus, starving obese people will
improve the availability of food and allow these victims to reclaim the healthy lives they are
entitled to. Likewise, other resources will be more equally distributed too. For example,
obese people place a lot of weight on factories to produce more food, which requires
increasingly large volumes of water. Humans already use 3,800,000,000,000 cubic metres of
water every year for food production (Water Calculator, 2017) - imagine how much rising
obesity rates are straining these limited resources! If obese people are removed, food
production will decrease to a sustainable level, meaning less water will be required for
industrial processes. More water will, therefore, be available for the rest of America to
consume, supporting everyone’s health and wellbeing. Clearly, whilst effectively reducing
obesity rates, starving the obese to death will allow people to lead a better quality life.

Some may argue that starving the obese to death is unethical and will damage their health;
in actuality, it offers psychological, physical and social benefits to everyone - yes, the obese
too. Roughly 58% of boys and 63% of girls in schools who are obese are bullied for their
weight and size (Stevelos, 2011). Starvation will reduce this figure as they will, initially, begin
losing weight and acquire a healthier figure, which will make them more socially comfortable
and, hence, benefit their mental health. Once the final step of the solution is complete, there
will be no mental health for the obese to worry about! The rest of America will experience
mental, physical and social benefits from the decreasing obesity rates too. This is because,
through the desire of self-preservation, they will become afraid of being obese, which will
compel them to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. Doing so has been proven to
significantly reduce chances of depression, cancer, osteoporosis, and other diseases
(Warburton, 2006). Also, exercising improves one’s mood via the release of endorphins and
provides opportunities to build new relationships. As a result, starving obese people to death
not only eradicates obesity, but positively impacts everyone’s health too.

Due to a lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits, obesity has become a prominent
issue in America. It has come to the point where starving all obese people to death is the
most effective solution. Nevertheless, it will benefit the economy by alleviating medical costs
and reducing productivity losses, provide people with better access to resources by
increasing their availability, and improve the health of the entire American population through
physical, psychological, and social benefits. If this solution is implemented, starvation may
be the leading cause of death by 2030, but obesity will be unheard of.

Bibliography
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CHC) (n.d.) Adult Obesity Facts (Viewed 6th
November 2019) Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

Do Something (n.d.) 11 FACTS ABOUT HUNGER IN THE US (Viewed 6th November 2019)
Available at: https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-hunger-us
Ellen, B. (2007) Six out of 10 of us would rather die than exercise. A shorter life, then, but a
happier one… (Viewed 6th November 2019) Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2007/sep/23/features.magazine7

Hammond, R. (2010) The economic impact of obesity in the United States (Viewed 6th
November 2019) Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3047996/

Scuffham, P. (2017) Economic Burden of Obesity: A Systematic Literature Review (Viewed

6th November 2019) Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409636/

Spector, D. (2008) Here's how many days a person can survive without food (Viewed 6th
November 2019) Available at:
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/how-many-days-can-you-survive-without-food-2014-5?r
=US&IR=T

Stevelos, J. (2011) BULLYING, Bullycide and Childhood Obesity (Viewed 6th November
2019) Available at:
https://www.obesityaction.org/community/article-library/bullying-bullycide-and-childhood-obe
sity/

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIH) (2019)
Overweight & Obesity Statistics (Viewed 6th November 2019) Available at:
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/overweight-obesity

Warburton, D. (2006) Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence (Viewed 6th
November 2019) Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1402378/

Water Calculator (2017) FOOD’S BIG WATER FOOTPRINT (Viewed 6th November 2019)
Available at: https://www.watercalculator.org/water-use/foods-big-water-footprint/
 Planning
Problem: Obesity in America
Solution: Starve them to death

Key elements:
● Mock people in power
● Sarcasm
● Exaggeration
● Ridicule: Make fun of how hard it is for people to maintain a healthy lifestyle (they’re
just lazy) - this will also be showing how my solution is better than other solutions
● Juxtaposition

Arguments:
● Starving obese people will mean there won’t be any obese people left, which will
eliminate the problem of obesity completely. This will encourage economic prosperity.
● Encourages equal resource distribution by reducing overpopulation. Feeds the
malnutritioned people
● Starving obese people will improve their mental health and quality of life. Obese
people get bullied at school. Start off with “people may argue that obese people may
suffer from mental health issues due to this”. Also, there is no “mental health” to
worry about if they’re dead. Thirdly, people who suffer from obesity have very high
cholesterol levels. By starvation, cholesterol levels will reduce as rapidly as the
number of obese persons. The statistics shown for bullying in school due to
obesity-related teasing will decrease in the following years. As of now, alarming data
shows that for overweight students, roughly 58% of boys and 63% of girls in schools
are bullied or teased due to their weight and size.

Problems:
● Unethical

Implementation:
● Make a legislation where stores are not allowed to sell food to obese people

Intent:
● To show how lazy Americans are and ridicule them for it