Obese Interview Interview with an Obese Individual

For this assignment I interviewed an obese individual from the South Florida area. I found it difficult to select an individual based on their physical condition. It was definitely a challenge to, not only identify such an individual, but also find a way to approach them without being insulting or making the person feel uncomfortable about their condition obesity in any way. Although I am familiar with some obese people through my network of friends and family, I chose to select an individual that I was not acquainted with so that there was slightly less pressure to not be offensive in anyway. For example, I obviously know that this is a sensitive subject for many obese people, and I was personally worried that if I somehow offended someone that was within my network that it would cause some kind of issue for my personal friends or family.

To overcome this, I tried to come up with an idea of how to approach someone in a public place. I thought that framing the interview in a way that focused more on "lifestyles" would make it easier for someone who was obese to speak more freely about their condition. With this in mind, I went to the mall to try to find a subject to participate in the interview. Obesity is not a disease you can really hide. A quick visual scan is sufficient to identify potential subjects. I performed such scans at the mall and approached potential subjects and asked them if they could help my with a class assignment by letting me interview them about their lifestyle. This paper will provide a background on obesity in society in general and then relate it to the specific information that was gained during the course of the interview. The problem of obesity is fascinating on many levels; from the level of society as well as from an individual perspective.

Background on Obesity

The development of high obesity rates in industrialized countries comes from a variety of different factors. There are factors related to nutrition, there are factors that are related to lifestyle choices and there are also factors that are likely to be the result of some kind of genetic predisposition that makes an individual more likely to have to struggle with obesity. Americans have the lowest-cost food supply in the world and spend the lowest proportion of disposable income on food. For years this has been considered a good thing; a triumph of capitalism. However, there are many other ways to view this situation. Most of the low cost of foods produced in the U.S. are a result of greater production yields, higher efficiency rates, and massive farm subsidies that lessen the cost of certain foods. Yet many of these foods are of nutritionally poor quality.

It is estimated that something like two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese and in general. Furthermore the rates obesity are higher for certain demographics such as for African-American and Hispanic populations, people that live in certain regions such as in the South, and the rates of obesity also seem to increase with age. There seems to also be an income factor that has an influence. For example, although there is an exorbitant amount of mass produced food that is relatively cheap, it is much more expensive to eat healthier and nutritionally rich products that are organic and produced locally.

Therefore, have the lowest-cost food supply in the world isn't quite as attractive as it might seem on the surface. Many of the costs of the cheap and unhealthy foods are unaccounted for. For example, the health care system in the United States is among the most expensive in the world and the costs continue to grow at an alarming rate. Obese people have a significantly greater chance of developing obesity related disease such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and many more. Thus the supply of cheap food must also be considered in light of the costs it is actually having on the health care system in the United States as well as the quality of life that obese people have in general. With this background, an interview with an obese person was conducted to try to tease out the lifestyle choices and the factors that lead to their personal obesity.

Interview with...

This was an open space in which you could view many shoppers as they traversed the mall. It was honestly a bit intimidating to approach someone with my interview request. The first couple attempts at this were failures. I found a fairly obese middle aged women who was walking and approached her with a request to help me with a school assignment which was meet with a "sorry, but I don't have time." I had a similar experience with an elderly man that also produced some time excuse.
I returned to the seating area to regroup for a couple minutes and regain my composure and my courage to continue my quest. After a few minutes of sitting and contemplating my next step, a middle-aged man, wheeled up to the seating area in one of those personal mobility scooters contraptions that you commonly see advertised on television. I immediately felt a sense of excitement as I quickly recognized the fact that this person seemed not only to have time, but also would be an incredibly interesting person to interview based on the background research that I conducted. The individual was so obese that they didn't appear to be able to fit properly on the scooter; it didn't even look sturdy enough to support his weight.

I introduced myself with the friendliest "hello" that I could possibly muster. Then I simply asked if I could have just a few moments of his time. Surprising, he responded very favorably with a "sure, what's going on." I explained that I was in school, I had a class project, and that I needed someone to interview about "lifestyles." He cordially agreed to help me and promised that it shouldn't take any longer than five or ten minutes. We exchanged names and handshakes and began to make a little small talk to become better acquainted before the actual interview began.

My first question was open ended and I asked "can you tell me a little bit about your current lifestyle and what brings you to the mall today." I was terrified to bring up the fact that he was so clearly obsessed and I was desperately hoping that he would address that on his own without having to be asked directly. He explained that his trip to the mall was for leisure purposes and that he didn't really have anything that we wanted to buy. He said that even if he had wanted to buy something that he was on a limited budget and couldn't afford much. It seemed as if to him the attraction to the mall environment was so he could be in a public place and have a chance to be amongst other people. He didn't address his own obesity as I was hoping that he would.

My next question pertained to his employment or what he did for money. He explained that he was put on disability four years ago and receives a monthly allowance from the federal government. He explained that he lived a rather modest lifestyle but that he genuinely tried to make the best of it. He didn't really have a job that he had to report to so most of his time was composed of various activities he designed to fill his time -- the trip to the mall was obviously one of these activities.

I then asked some questions about the scooter and how long he has been using it. This was the breakthrough moment I had been waiting for and in his response to the question he finally addressed his obesity. He said, "As I'm sure you have already realized, I hate a weight problem." He explained that he had not always had the problem. He was heavy as a child but was still active. He worked a normal job doing construction until one day he hurt his back and began to collect disability. He struggled with depression after his injury. It was difficult for him not to be able to work and provide a living on his own. He was unmarried and without children, yet he took a lot of pride in being able to support himself and earn a decent income.

After the injury occurred, he had a tough time dealing with it and found solace in food. He spent a lot of time at home and was on a limited budget. His food intake represented the mass produced items that were identified in the background research. He snacked all day long on chips, soda, frozen dinners, and a host of unhealthy food items. After…