a massive challenge

by Josh Hannagan
In this not-so-new age of console games, computer screens, Internet dating and overworked office personnel, obesity is becoming a real issue for not only the current generations but for many to come. Along with the health problems that come with being grossly overweight, issues such as design considerations for the increasing ‘size’ of the population (individuals in the population rather than numbers) and social exclusion also arise.
This so-called epidemic is costing the country over $300million each year in health care alone.

So can being obese be classed as having a disability?


Well, the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of an individual.” Obesity itself can be defined as “A condition where there is excess body weight due to an abnormal accumulation of fat”. Obesity may impair the individual’s ability to perform an activity in a normal way, such as that of walking therefore obesity can be considered as a disability. It could also be argued that due to mental issues that make a person want to eat more or exercise less then they are in fact disabled.

The stereotype of a person in a wheel chair used internationally to represent the disabled community is very off the mark and we need to open our minds to all sorts of diverse conditions.

Futures:
Innovative design solutions that fit in unnoticed with our daily lives such as Nintendo WII are taking in the health consideration by creating socially responsible games that encourage movement in order to succeed in the game, and even going as far as creating virtual personal trainers for such pursuits as Pilates and Yoga.
In terms of design awareness the DBA design competition ‘Sedentary Lives’ is encouraging designers to look at solutions to deal with our increasingly large and immobile culture. This is in response to the estimation that 60 percent of the UK population could be obese by 2050. In their words “Getting people moving is a MASSIVE challenge”.