Singapore = 10.8%
Japan = 3.4%
South Korea = 3.8%
Does one become obese solely because one lacks self-control?
In my earlier working days, one of the bosses commented that X was not a good worker because it was clear that X lacked self-disciplined. The visible symptom was X's body mass.
If so, do Singaporeans have much less self-control than Japanese or South Koreans?
Or perhaps, the problem is not because the individual lacks self-control, but society lacks 'harshness'. In simpler terms, perhaps the Singaporean society is more tolerant of obesity, and so the individuals care less about becoming obese in Singapore.
不是个人的疏忽，而是社会的纵容.
Or perhaps, that "10% of Singapore" is a misnomer. Those 10% of Singaporeans who are obese are not really Singaporeans. Maybe they are PRs or new citizens?
What is the profile of the obese Singaporean?
What are the plausible contributing factors? Any regression analysis done?
It is a fact in other developed countries that the obese individuals tend to be from the lower income group as they make less money and tend to consume mainly cheap processed foods (usually infused with fats to improve taste).
I always wonder how many pieces of confectionery does Breadtalk have to sell in the span of just a few years for its owner to able to afford a Good-Class Bungalow worth more than S$20m. Imagine how many people have consumed how much saturated fats from those pork-floss buns. Those buns are priced and placed just right for people to keep buying them. Brilliant.
Regardless what the real causes of obesity are, I know for sure that skinny people would love to put down and discriminate against fat people. Same goes for people with good grades, of a certain class/race/looks etc. These people tend to exclude people without those 'assets' from their activities (e.g. jobs, promotion, social mingling, facebook maybe?). Refer to the example cited above. Ironically, such 'haves' do not have self-control over their obese egos.
What's wrong with being obese?
The last thing anyone should do is to feel inferior about one's lack of assets. These days, most assets can be bought, tweaked, and enhanced. Even race. I am serious.
At the individual level, the point of losing any weight is not to join the skinny group so as to feel superior about oneself. But to lose excess weight so that it does not choke you to death with its physical and health consequences, which will negatively affect you and your loved ones.
Nonetheless, if one cannot stop oneself from feeling superior by losing weight or self-righteous about being fat or simply 'discriminated against', then there is something wrong with one's self-control.
At the societal level, it will be useful to determine the root causes of increase in obesity level. Not point just making assumptions and then proceeding to spend loads of money on 'promoting healthy living'. Leaving it vague or alluding that it's up to the individual ain't gonna solve the 'problem'.
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