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Food Rationing as a Means of Combatting Mortality Caused by Obesity
The prevalence of overweight and obesity is at an unprecedented high, with 68,2 and 34,6 percent in 2010, respectively (Go et al, 2014). Obesity is commonly measured as the disproportion of an established ratio between height and body weight, with auxiliary factors, such as age or sex, taken into account. A possible measure for combating obesity is rationing. Rationing is defined as an artificial restriction on the provision of food, for example in a hospital or school cafeteria. Nevertheless, the likelihood of the implementation of such system on a national scale is miniscule, because of the sociopolitical and economic implications. Therefore, it would be best to concentrate on public institutions offering catering services. Temporary food rationing could be imposed upon the general public, because it is a proven way to reduce heart disease and obesity.
Obesity is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide, with more than 700 million obese people in 2015 in 195 countries (GBD 2015 Obesity Collaborators, 2017). A possible cause of this is may be that our nutrition and artificial environment have altered in ways promoting overeating. Especially important is the fact that calorie and fat dense foodstuffs have become affordable as well as easily accessible (Wright & Aronne, 2012). The above-mentioned palatable comestibles have generally become more available in larger portions, which has undeniably had a magnifying effect on daily calorie intake (Rolls, 2003). Besides the increase in portion size, the amount of non-perishable, ultra-processed and pre-packaged items available in various stores has risen to an unparalleled number. Over the last three decades ultra-processed foods have gradually shifted out both minimally processed comestibles and processed culinary ingredients (Monteiro, Levy, Claro, de Castro, Cannon, 2010). Moreover, research undertaken to find out the nutrient profiles of these refined foodstuffs found that they were exceedingly sweetened, denser in saturated fat and sodium, containing less fiber and overall more calorie rich when compared to minimally processed items or culinary ingredients. It should be noted that these products are increasingly marketed towards children as well as adults, which plays an important role in childhood obesity that consequently predisposes minors towards obesity later on in life (Wright & Aronne, 2012). These products, deleterious to health, consumed by millions of families on the global scale are continuously increasing the probability of cardiovascular diseases, obesity and diabetes.
Cardiovascular diseases are the primary cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly a third of all deaths with 17.9 million dead in 2015 (Wang et al, 2016). In a 1983 study to examine the relationship between obesity severity and cardiovascular disease incidence demonstrated that obesity was a significant independent predictor of cardiovascular disease, specifically in women. Relative weight in both men and women was positively associated with coronary disease, coronary death, congestive heart failure and stroke, independently of any other risk factors, such as age, cholesterol, blood pressure and others (Hubert, Feinleib, McNamara & Castelli, 1983). In addition, there are many probable explanations for obesity, e.g. sedentary lifestyle, genetics, related illnesses, social determinants, gut bacteria and innumerable other factors, that could not possibly be accounted for, but the most significant factor appears to be the excess abundance of food. One examination evinced that disproportionate intake of foodstuffs, especially palatable and energy-dense carbohydrates and fats is predominantly responsible for the increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide (Bojanowska & Ciosek, 2016). A growing number of contemporary communities are residing in obesogenic environments chiefly characterized by extremely easy access to cheap, palatable but high-calorie and unhealthy foods. Since their consumption is being aggressively encouraged via neuromarketing techniques (Berthoud, 2012) and they are being made increasingly more addicting as well as palatable by food engineering, one of the several remaining options would be to drastically reduce consumption of such items through the implementation of a rationing system.
The artificial limitation of food products for civilians food rationing has been used throughout history, during military encirclements or crop failures in the pre-modern era and in wartime as well as after natural calamities, during contingencies or in times of economic emergencies in modern and contemporary periods. The fundamental goal of this is to equalize the distribution of calories to suppress malnourishment or starvation. Consequently, if not by design, the overall health of the affected population increases because overfeeding is restricted and the typical diet, on average, becomes more balanced. For example, in the 1940s food rationing was implemented in the United Kingdom because of war concerns. By the summer of 1942 nearly all foods besides vegetables, fruit, fish and poultry were being rationed. In order to purchase rationed items each person had to register at specific stores, after which they were provided with a ration book containing coupons. Stores were stocked with sufficient products for registered customers. Despite the fact that wartime diet was considered as boring and monotonous, most broadly considered themselves healthy and well-fed. Although class differences in vital statistics remained largely unchanged, mortality rates and anthropometric data registered considerable improvements (Duffett, 2016). Another study did not necessarily support that consumption of fat, fiber and sugar in compliance with certain recommendations made by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy will reduce coronary heart disease in middle-aged men, it does appear from the statistics cited, that during the rationing period there was a significant slump in heart disease fatality rate, which gradually restituted in the following years (Barker & Osmond, 1986).
Even though it is practically impossible to impose rationing in peacetime, similar effects could be achieved by offering carefully balanced meals in public institutions schools, hospitals and other establishments where on-site catering is requisite. To provide an approximation of the hypothetical efficacy of such measures, we should take into consideration that the average increase of obesity prevalence in children was about 0,5 percent per year from 2008 to 2016 in the United States (Skinner, Ravanbakht, Skelton, Perrin & Armstrong, 2018). According to individual calculations, at this trend, it will take less than 30 years for 50% of American children, age range 2-19, to be considered overweight. The aforementioned method could be used to effectively slow and reverse this process, significantly improving adult obesity statistics as a result.
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