Obesciance

Obeisance (obedience) is spelled similarly to obesity (fleshiness, fat, overweight) but has something in common. Whether or not the elderly exhibit this trend more than the rest of the population is debatable. Some seniors lose weight, other gain. Whatever, carrying too much baggage is not a very good idea.

Why we get overweight or obese is a complex question. It can be in the genes, an antidote to depression, the clean your plate or else! admonition. Or simply because food is too easily available and attractive. Or obedience to an urge.

Let's look at temptation. Perhaps it looks too good not to eat. Well meaning friends/relatives are good at wheedling or teasing: Aw, come on, take another piece. Something I really never gave a lot of thought to was in a book recently published. It was written in part because of some significant increases in consumption including the relationship between commerce (commercialism) and consumption.

The study said that the government incentivised the dairy industry which then made so much cheese that Washington encouraged the dairy industry to raise millions of dollars for marketing which caused consumption to triple since the '70s. Now cheese is the No. 1 source of all the saturated fat being consumed. Hmmm.

The study also reminded us that kids love sweets which sends signals to the brain to eat more leading to products in grocery stores that were never sweetened before were sweetened. The author then went on to say that food has been “weaponized“ using words like alluring, cravable and smackable. Then there was a discussion of how the food industry has learned how to position certain items in strategic locations at eye level for maximum sales.

Amidst this was the inevitable question: Can consumers outsmart the food industry giants? To this could be added: Is it possible for consumers to get hooked by salt, sugar and fat which are so prevalent in many mundane foods recreated to be more cravable and smakable? Add this to nature's genetic structures, availability, persuasion and lack of won't power and we can see why some avoid stepping on a scale.

I remember speaking at a jail service with a woman's quartet accompanying me. Three were slim while the fourth was most ample. She introduced the girls by saying each weighed themselves and the scale spoke their weight in endearing terms. When she stepped on the scale, it growled, “One at a time, please.” How does your scale talk?