Name: …………………………………………..

The world's expanding waistline

When the world was a simpler place, the rich were fat, the poor were thin, and people worried about
how to feed the hungry. Now, in much of the world, the rich are thin, the poor are fat, and people are
worrying about obesity.
Thanks to rising agricultural productivity, famine is rarer all over the globe. According to the UN, the
number of people short of food fell from 920m in 1980 to 799m in 2000, even though the world's
population increased by 1.6 billion over the period. But the consequence of this prosperity brings a
new problem and with it a host of interesting policy dilemmas.
Obesity is the world's biggest public-health issue today - the main cause of heart disease, which kills
more people these days than AIDS, malaria, war; the principal risk factor in diabetes; heavily
implicated in cancer and other diseases. Since the World Health Organisation labelled obesity an
'epidemic' in 2000, there have been many reports on its fearful consequences.
Will public-health warnings, combined with media pressure, persuade people to get thinner, just as
they finally put them off tobacco? There is now agreement among doctors that governments should do
something to help.
Diet by command?
There's nothing new about the idea that governments should intervene in the food business. One of the
earliest examples was in 1202, when King John of England first banned the adulteration of bread.
Governments and people seem to agree that ensuring the safety and stability of the food supply is part
of the state's job. But obesity is a more complicated issue than food safety. It is not about ensuring that
people don't get poisoned; it is about changing their behaviour. Should governments be trying to do
anything about it at all?
There is a bad reason for doing something, and a couple of good ones. The bad reason is that
governments should help citizens look after themselves. People, the argument goes, are misled by their
bodies, which are constantly trying to store a few more calories in case of hunger in the near future.
Governments should help guide them towards better eating habits. But that argument is weaker in the
case of food than it is for tobacco - nicotine is addictive, chocolate is not - people have a choice of
being sensible or silly. People should choose, not governments.
Get them young
A better argument for intervention is that dietary habits are established early in childhood. Once people
get fat, it is hard for them to get thin; once they are used to breakfasting on chips and Coke, it's hard to
change. The state, which has some responsibility for shaping young people, should try to ensure that
its small citizens aren't overdosing on sugar at primary school. Britain's government is talking about
tough restrictions on advertising junk food to children. It seems unlikely that it will have much effect.
Sweden already bans advertising to children, and its young people are as fat as those in comparable
countries. Other moves, such as banning junk food from schools, might work better.
The cost of obesity
A second plausible argument for intervention is that thin people subsidise fat people through health
care. If everybody is forced to pay for the seriously fat, then everybody has an interest in seeing them
slim down. This should not be a problem in insurance-financed health care systems, such as America's.
Insurance companies should be able to charge fat people more because they cost more. That leaves the
question of what should happen in a state-financed health system. Why not tax fattening food - sweets,
snacks and takeaways? That might discourage consumption of unhealthy food and also get back some
of the costs of obesity.
It might; but it would also be too great an intrusion on liberty for the gain in equity and efficiency it
might (or might not) represent. Society has a legitimate interest in fat because fat and thin people both
pay for it. But it also has a legitimate interest in not having the government interfere in people's private
business. If people want to eat their way to grossness and an early grave, let them.
Questions 1-8
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the passage?
You should write
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
1. Increasing world population has led to famine.
2. Obesity is one of the biggest killers in the world.
3. Doctors should advise people on how to lose weight.
4. Governments should try to prevent children from picking up bad eating habits.
5. Overweight people cost health systems more, and therefore should pay health insurance.
6. Overweight people should not smoke.
7. Banning advertisements of junk food aimed at children would change their eating habits.
8. Everyone has a right to eat what they like and as much as they like.
Questions 9-15
Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage
for each answer.
Farming today is much more productive than even twenty years ago, and it is due to this increase in 9.
………. that famine in this time has become much less common in the world. However, it has led to a
new problem of obesity, which has become the most significant global 10. ………. concern.
It is generally agreed that the government should be responsible for protecting the 11. ………. of
society's food. However, obesity is a more complicated issue and it raises the question of whether
governments should try to alter people's 12. ………. .Many disagree that the duty of the government is
to take care of society by encouraging 13. ………. . Surely, people have a choice whether to eat
healthily or not.
Those who favour government involvement in our food consumption think it is more effective to try to
change people while they are still at 14. ………. There should therefore be restrictions on junk
food being advertised to children. The problem, though, is that this has already been tried in Sweden,
and there is no difference between there and 15. ………. .
Questions 16-19
Complete the summary below using words from the box.
At the moment, the extra cost of health care attributable to obese people is paid by 16. ………. In
countries where health care is funded by insurance, this is not such a problem because overweight
people can be charged higher premiums. However, in countries which have 17. ………. funded
medical services this is not possible. One possible solution would be the introduction of a 18. ……….
on unhealthy food. Although this might work to reduce obesity, it is likely to be very unpopular -
most people will see it as too great an interference in personal 19. ………. .
doctors government privacy finance
health society ruling policy
citizen freedom individuals company
choice diet levy business

1. 5. 9. 13. 17.

2. 6. 10. 14. 18.

3. 7. 11. 15. 19.

4. 8. 12. 16. 20.