Common truisms and their validity

Truism

Obesity reached epidemic proportions by the end of the twentieth century, with as many as thirty percent of adults and sixteen percent of children living in the United States being overweight ("Overweight and Obesity"). Being overweight is not just a matter of personal appearance. Rather, a range of health problems from heart disease to diabetes can be directly caused by eating too much, especially too much of the wrong foods. Fast food, junk food, and processed foods, available in huge portions for cheap prices, are driving factors in the American economy. However, because being overweight is a major cause of disease, obesity becomes an economic problem in America, taxing the medical system with unnecessary and preventable problems. Obese individuals essentially steal treatment services from individuals who suffer from diseases that could not be prevented through lifestyle changes. Overeating is also a slap-in -- the face for those who cannot afford to eat enough, an insult to common sense and human decency. Because of the stresses and strains that overeating causes friends and family members, overeating is a behavior that resembles drug abuse; many overeaters act like drug addicts. Overeating is an affront to the individual, to his or her family, and to his or her society, and overeating causes a number of ancillary problems such as increased waste production. Obesity can also cause harm to personal property, such as broken furniture. Because overeating directly harms human health and socio-economic welfare, eating too much is at least a theoretically criminal activity.

Eating less will not necessarily help starving children in Africa; however, eating too much is an overt affront to people who cannot afford to eat enough to stay alive. Therefore, overeating is a psychologically damaging act even it is not a directly criminal one. However, overeating can be described as criminal because the behavior does directly endanger or outright harm the health and well-being of innocent people. Eating too much is criminal because it is overtly offensive. Gorging in public is no different than indecent exposure or smoking, and can be a visual affront to any community.

However, overeating primarily harms the practitioner. Just as illicit use is illegal because of the potentially deleterious effects, so too could overeating be considered illicit behavior. An individual might not die immediately after consuming a gallon of ice cream, but after ten years of gorging on junk food, the person could indeed die of a heart attack. Overeating is similar to smoking in its definite long-term injurious effects, and eating too much is similar to suicidal behavior.

Furthermore, just as second-hand smoke can hurt other people, so too can overeating. First, overeating produces an excessive amount of waste, such food packaging and related materials that contribute to pollution. Second, and most importantly, overeating causes preventable health problems, problems that tax the health care system and steal services and funds from innocent individuals. For example, an overeater who needs a heart transplant could stand in the way of someone born with a congenital heart problem. Similarly, an overeater who develops diabetes competes for insulin and dialysis services with the ten-year-old who was born with diabetes. The amount of money and insurance services sucked up by overeaters is akin to fraud and is therefore criminal. Third, overeating hurts other people when the overeater becomes an addict. One of the reasons that a twelve-step program for overeaters called Overeaters Anonymous exists is because overeating is an addiction like any other. Like drug addicts and alcoholics, overeaters often mistreat their loved ones and become besieged with a slew of social and psychological problems. Overeating is therefore as criminally negligent as drug abuse.

Eating too much is criminal because it sets the wrong example for young people, among whom overeating and obesity is becoming an increasingly large problem. Children in the United States are shielded from what are considered to be lewd language and behavior on television and in the movies, so they should also be shielded from advertisements and products that encourage overeating. Most people who overeat tend to consume large portions of junk food. Therefore, many forms of junk food can be considered as criminal as narcotics are: both are addictive and both cause bodily harm. Overeating is also criminal because it can cause harm to personal property. Vandalism is a crime; if an individual defaces public or private property he or she will at least be given a fine. When an obese person breaks a chair in a restaurant, he or she cannot be held criminally responsible, but the example illustrates the fact that overeating can cause the same types of personal property problems as deliberate vandalism can.