The subject of obesity and its impact on individuals and on our society as a whole is running the risk of redundancy. As often happens, repeated mention of a certain topic leads to our not really hearing it anymore; we don’t process information when we hear it over and over and over again.
Which is not to say that I think we should stop talking about it or that I don’t believe the consequences of the plague of obesity are not dire. Nor do I deny that money - or the lack of it - seriously affects our food choices. People with limited resources simply can’t afford to eat a lean, fresh diet replete with fruits and vegetables and also join a gym.
But what seems to be lacking in the conversation about our collective weight is any real talk about hunger. We mention food “choices” and in doing so make the whole business of what we eat seem like an intellectual process; it’s not, it’s emotional. Food feeds our bodies, but it also feeds our souls; it makes us feel good, feel comforted, feel better.
The hunger we might also address is a spiritual or emotional one. Not that when I grab for a cookie I’m actually looking for God, but maybe by the fourth I’d do well to ask myself what it is I’m really yearning for. It’s also well documented that people in stressful occupations suffer a disproportional rate of obesity. One’s vulnerability to obesity is increased by a hostile work environment, working more than 40 hours a week, overnight shifts and bullying in the work place among other things.
Those in the caring or serving professions also suffer inordinately. Nurses and clergy have high rates of obesity – perhaps because they’re so accustomed to caring for others that they feel guilty caring for themselves. Or maybe they’re so busy - so stressed - seeing to the needs of others that they neglect themselves. These professions also attract some people who need to feel needed, who are hungry for affirmation and connection.
According to a study released in 2012 by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, by 2030 nearly half of all Americans will be obese. So I think it’s time to recognize that it isn’t all about food, exercise and economics, key factors though these certainly are. We’re a hungry nation that’s made more so by a culture that continually bombards us with the idea that more of anything is always better - more cars, more things, more clothes, more sex, more toys, more electronics, more information, more food, more drink. But none of these things will assure our happiness or ultimately make us feel loved; in fact just the opposite might prove to be true as we follow one empty promise after another.
As we strive to become a healthier country, we might do well to ask ourselves not only about our physical appetites - but about our holy hungers as well.
