FAT LOSS: THE MACRO ENVIRONMENT
The physical macro environment. Influences on body fatness in the widet physical environment include the food supply, availability of facilities for physical activity, and the demands for physical activity for day-to-day living. The food supply within a population is influenced by a number of factors including agricultural practices, pricing and taxation structures, manufacturing and food processing, marketing and the availability of distribution outlets as well as the general economy. Supply is ultimately affected, however, by Government policy and public demand.
Meat and livestock producers were traditionally rewarded for fatter carcasses by having prices determined by total weight and/or fat content. Dairy producers also received greater incomes from higher milk fat content. However, public demand for lower-fat products has caused a shift away from prices based on fat. The public shift towards chicken meant an increase in the production of poultry. This led to an increase in battery hen farming, and as a result of the reduced activity of the birds (which were previously free range), the fat content of poultry seems to have increased significantly.
In the meantime, public demand led other meat producers to significantly reduce the fat content of their product, through different farming, butchering and marketing practices. Lean pork, beef and lamb are now highly comparable with poultry in fat content, and in some cases, lower in fat. Hence changes in the food supply can influence changes in the availability and use of products likely to facilitate increases in obesity and this has become a targeted activity of the public health lobby.
Food processing and supply is also influenced by the market place and public policy. Requirements for labelling of fat content of packaged foods accompanied by public education campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of rattening and non-fattening products, can help reduce their demand and in turn put pressure on food producers to modify the supply. Programs like Tick the Tick’4 also bring nutrition into the equation for manufacturers and making the product eligible to achieve the tick endorsement becomes the goal for which manufacturers can aim.
Fast food outlets have increased their turnover dramatically in Western countries, with an estimated 1 in 3 meals now reportedly purchased outside the home. Per capita consumption of takeaway foods has increased by 10 per cent per year since 1984, with a total annual market in Australia in 1994 of $5 billion. Approximately $540 per capita is also spent per year on snack foods, compared to $506 on fruit and vegetables. Government policy in the form of incentives, as well as disincentives (such as taxes) for the production and sale of reduced-fat takeaways is one future option to slow down the increases in obesity.
Public education campaigns are also necessary at this level to help develop skills for choosing and preparing food. A very important accompaniment to such education efforts are attempts to improve the food choice in places where people eat, such as school and work canteens, lunch bars and institutions such as hospitals and boarding schools. Even small changes, such as not automatically buttering baked goods, may have a major impact, simply because of the volume of people eating in these settings, and work to this effect must be a priority for health authorities.
The options for energy/fat expenditure in a society can also be influenced at a macro environmental level. As technology advances, with increases in the number and type of effort saving devices both in the workplace and in the community, the need for daily movement is reduced. The development of motor vehicles and other transport options, for example, has reduced the need to walk. For many people, men in particular, the work environment offered the main opportunity for physical activity. Even twenty to thirty years ago many jobs required some degree of physical effort, but the development and increasing sophistication of machinery continues to reduce this significantly. Decrease in work place activity is often given as one of the main reasons for the increases in fatness of working class men in recent times. Ifs interesting to note that only a little more than twenty years ago, white collar workers were generally fatter than blue collar workers. But in some ‘blue collar’ areas like industrial cities, 3 in 4 men are now regarded as overweight or obese compared to 1 in 4 amongst ‘white collar’ men.
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