What Can America Do About Rising Obesity Rates?

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 41.9% of American adults aged 20 and above are obese. What is the national impact of a near-majority obese population, and what could be done to address rising obesity rates? 

National Threat: A writer in the National Review (Right bias) argued obesity is a national security threat, determining the military’s recruiting shortfalls are in part due to the fact that “more than 1 in 3 young adults are too heavy to serve in the armed forces.” The writer advocates for “embracing the principles of federalism” to “allow leaders in different jurisdictions to experiment with new ideas for combating obesity.”

Willpower vs Biology: An article in the Wall Street Journal (Center bias) stated the increase in obesity is a “product of forces, old and new, that have collided… human biology shaped over millennia of struggle to find sustenance; lives that are largely lived sitting down; and the abundance of cheap, processed foods.” New research regarding obesity and the emergence of weight loss drugs such as Ozempic prove that obesity “isn’t so much about willpower: It’s about biology.”

Underlying Issues: While drugs like Ozempic are proving effective at helping Americans’ lose weight, a Bloomberg (Lean Left bias) article stated that the drugs do not “change the underlying issues that drive metabolism, leaving newly lean people wondering whether they will need to bear the expense and the side effects of the drugs for decades or risk relapse.”