What do the following scenes have in common: a turkey that is so fat that it has difficulty standing up; a pumpkin that is so fat that it needs a tractor to lift it off the ground; a pet dog that is so fat that it can only waddle instead of walk; and a human that is so fat that it needs a crane to lift them out of bed to have them taken to hospital? The obvious difference is that the first two are food items (normally associated with the Thanksgiving celebration), while the latter two are food consumers (of sorts for the pet). But what they all have in common is that they are exibiting - in one way or another - a form of obesity. And this is where there is a recognition problem in our society: only the latter two are recognised as being related to obesity; while the former two (turkey and pumpkin) are championed as being a product of advanced agribusiness and food science.
In fact, it is that very Thanksgiving celebration that provides a good insight into the social aspect of obesity. Thanksgiving is a historical feast meant to give thanks (to God) for the abundance of food that people enjoy. It is practised in several regions, like the US, Canada, and parts of Europe and Africa. While the ceremony itself only goes back a century or two, the feasts that it is based on go way back to the Stone Age. Back then tribes had huge feasts of meat and alcohol - to appease the gods and/or to celebrate successful harvests. At such feasts, a symbolically important type of animal - such as the pig or bovine - was the subject of slaughter and consumption.
In the modern world it is the US Thanksgiving ceremony that has garnered worldwide attention via television. It involves the President giving thanks for food abundance, and then pardoning a bird (AKA "saving" it from the pot). That saved bird is then taken to a farm to live out the rest of its life in freedom. But critics of the ceremony have questioned the fate of this turkey. And they have found that since the birds are so fervently fattened-up for the annual celebration, they can begin to suffer obesity-related health problems. As a result, the supposed "freedom" of the saved bird is destined to be shortlived, as it succombs to difficulties like standing, walking, breathing, arthritis, and/or circulation/heart problems.
The laws of pain can add a further dimension to the understanding of this ceremony - as well as to the nature of the obesity epidemic. The modern-day Thanksgiving feast is a relic from the past that is out of tune with modern-day society. The US population, for example, is now huge, so 46 million or so of one type of bird has to be slaughtered to cater for the demand. In this respect the feasting has reached ridiculous proportions. Additional to this, there is no further need to give thanks for the food that people have, since nowadays food is abundant and there is little malnutrition and starvation (in the West at least).
When it comes to the part where the President publically "saves" a turkey, it has a deep unconscious component. Because in reality, society is killing 46 million turkeys - so to counter this unfeeling act they need an "humane ceremony" to make them feel more comfortable with themselves for doing this. So they require society's leader to show some "feeling" by saving a bird, and thus allowing it to live a free life. So the ceremony is really a barometer of the level of feeling capacity in the US society. Effectively, by only being concerned about the welfare of one bird - and seeing the rest as slaughterable food - the society is showing that it has a reduced feeling capacity and an elevated level of unconsciousness. (Although, of course, there are some feeling and humane activities at this time - such as food drives for the needy, family gatherings, and holiday time off work. But in this case I am specifically addressing healthcare.)
In the modern (Western) world, obesity and anorexia/bulimea are the current food-related health problems - rather than malnutrition and starvation. And the US has about 35% adult obese, and 17% juvenile obese. (In Australia, with a revised measure, it is now estimated that 49% of people are in the obese category; while over 60% of pets are considered obese.) So in actual fact, the Thanksgiving ceremony would present an ideal opportunity to update the feasting message to improve the health of the US nation. Instead of a Stone Age-related message, the message could be changed to promote healthy eating generally, like consuming a range of foods rather than concentrating on just one artificially fattened-up bird and vegetable. The ceremony could also include apt parenting advice, such as to provide adequate meals for children (many children miss out on breakfast for example), and to make sure no trauma is associated with mealtimes - as both can distort children's views of food and lead to later onset eating disorders.
The out-of-date Thanksgiving ceremony perfectly illustrates a problem with business, food science, medical science, and politics. These social sectors are all working against each other - in terms of aiding psychoemotional healthcare initiatives. Industry and science are always striving to invent new and improved ways of doing things - like improving the yield of food items (in other words, fattening-up our foods); while medical science and government are always wanting to stop health problems from reaching epidemic proportions. Even the President's wife, Michelle Obama, is involved in the campaign to fight obesity. But while they are all working against each other, no matter what health care policies and programs governments come up with to fight obesity and anorexia/bulimea, they are all doomed to failure. The obesity epidemic has a bigger breadth and depth than these sector workers understand.
