Fighting the Epidemic: Individual vs. Community Responsibility

After watching the Weight of the Nation documentary, we can all agree that obesity is quickly becoming an epidemic and must be controlled. The real question though is who's responsibility is it to take on the task of reducing the rate of obesity; the individual or the community? First we must determine the differences between the two. Individual responsibility falls more on the morals of how people act and think regarding health and fitness, as well as providing a good example for those around them such as their friends and family. For example, if you are a parent providing for a family, your children are likely to follow in your footsteps in terms of their own health and fitness. If you are an overweight parent who is not doing anything to change this fact, your children will see that being overweight is nothing to worry about and consequentially not care for themselves in terms of health and fitness. It is the duty of the individual to provide good examples and follow through in order to show that it is important to be healthy. The responsibility of the community is much broader. The community, such as doctors and employers, have the responsibility of helping people to monitor their health as well as provide information on how they can hep improve their health if needed. Both of these groups has an important responsibility to not only themselves but those around them. The key to fighting obesity is not to decide who does what, but how the two can work together to fight the growing epidemic.