Modern Forms of Leisure and the Economy
The nature of leisure itself proves how it may directly or indirectly cause laziness and health-related problems such as obesity. Bull (2009) defined leisure based on empirical measures, within four dimensions (1) leisure as an individuals freedom from his or her obligations, which may eventually lead to a sedentary lifestyle without obligations (2) leisure as a means to exhibit disinterestedness or detachment in responsibility, desire to fulfill or achieve tasks, etc. which leads to laziness (3) leisure as a diversion from other aspects of life such as work, problems, worries, and so on, due to its capacity to affect human satisfaction and (4) leisure as a means to develop personality by escaping the standards and expectations set by society, such as ideal health conditions and lifestyle, and so on.
Modern Forms of Leisure and Outcomes
Modern forms of leisure were primarily developed for the purpose of decreasing work and effort, promoting convenience and human satisfaction, and can be incorporated in various fields or areas of life. One of the simplest forms of leisure at present time is watching television. Although the television has been invented in the past decades, it has been developed with modern technologies in order to transform human experience into a more enjoyable and convenient television watching. The invention of the remote control, cable television, and the various offering of cable subscription companies have redefined how human beings value and perceive watching television. Although watching television has its advantages and uses, such as keeping up to date with the news, learning or for educational purposes, social interaction, and so on, it has also some disadvantages. For instance, Watching television has been linked to several modern maladies including obesity, depression, and paranoia (Kubey Csikzentmihalyi, 1990 Gerbner, 1999) (Human Kinetics Organization, 2005).
Zimmerman Bell (2010) measured television viewing by utilizing data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics on children. The z scores of the BMI of the participants were also measured. Although the results of the study did not directly prove that television watching leads to obesity in children as indicated by BMI z scores, television advertising has been identified as the leading cause of obesity. (Zimmerman Bell, 2010) The study of Parsons, Manor Power (2008), on the other hand, directly related television viewing to obesity through the measurement of BMI. In the study, 11,301 participants who were born in 1958 in England were involved in the long term study as their BMI were measured continuously at the age of 16, 23, 33, and 45. The results of the study revealed that television viewing led to rapid weight gain, and that gender and age also influence the rate of BMI. For instance, females and individuals between adolescence and middle adulthood have gained more weight due to television watching than other populations. (Parsons, Manor Power, 2008).
The study by Hancox Poulton (2006) about the relationship between watching television and obesity also supported the results of Parsons, Manor Powers (2008) study. According to Hancox Poulton (2006), the study on 1,037 individuals proved that Time spent watching television is a significant predictor of BMI and overweight in childhood (Hancox Poulton, 2006 171). Johnson, Nelson, Bradley (2006) focused on television viewing practices in women and the impact of such activity to their health. The researchers conducted a mailed survey for 1,555 female veterans. BMI for the participants were measured and correlated with self-reported time spent in watching television daily. The results of the study revealed that television viewing and the action and inaction associated with it, such as stationary non-movement but with increased food intake, and a full two-hour viewing of television per day, leads to obesity. (Johnson, Nelson, Bradley. 2006)
Other forms of modern leisure also involve the goal of achieving enjoyment and satisfaction in the workplace. Work travel or transportation has evolved through time as signaled by the industrial revolution. In the past, work may be described as manual labor. However, at present time, the dynamics of worked was incorporated with technology and innovation. Trains, buses, and other modes of transportation were developed and made available in order to facilitate faster means of commuting to work, while technological devices or systems such as computers, photocopy machines, telephones, and so on, have made possibly less exertion of efforts at work and more time for leisure and relaxation, consequently making the work experience more pleasurable.
The assimilation of pleasure also causes laziness. This is because technology makes everything easy, which goes a long way to making us indolent. And indolence makes us spectators, not participants. Hence, we become observers, like spectators at a ball game. The comforts of technology have only made us more expectant of further comforts. We now expect a higher standard of living, a greater stability and a more homogenous environment, all of which are dependent upon technological development laziness means that we want to do nothing or very little at all, whereas idleness means we want to be inactive and unscheduled for the present here technology plays a role because on the one hand it makes us lazy, on the other it discourages idleness (Rivers, 1993 26)
Impact of Obesity and Laziness to the Economy
Laziness, which is directly related to obesity as caused by modern forms of leisure, will most likely affect the economy in the future. According to Pitombo (2008), previous research studies were attempted in order to measure how obesity will likely impact the economy and society. In this case, obesity is both advantageous and disadvantageous to the economy. The disadvantage of obesity to the economy is the amount of total cost that the state must spend in order to fund for health care for patients and to prevent the onset of obesity in other populations. The economic evaluation of solutions pays particular attention to direct costs of obesity that accrue to a community, as health-care resources must be diverted from one activity to another in order to deal with obesity-related illnesses (Pitombo, 2008 394).
Furthermore, obesity was determined to indirectly affect the economy due to its impact to the work industry. Obesity will lead to absenteeism. The associated lost productivity in the workplace due to absenteeism would yield lost output, jobs, and income through a mechanism known as the economic multiplier Economic impacts arise from payroll spending, businessorganizational operating expenses, and construction projects these factors in turn generate jobs and income through a process known as the multiplier effect (Pitombo, 2008 394). Thus, if obesity will lead to absenteeism, business and organizations will also be affected, and consequently influence the growth and stability of the economy.
Obesity is known to lead to other types of diseases. It is a known risk factor for a range of diseases including several cancers, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, musculoskeletal disorders, sleep apnea, depression and incontinence (US National Institutes of Health, 2003), and shortens expected remaining life expectancy by up to 22 (Anand Gray, 2009 182-183). The risks and potential outcomes associated with obesity significantly increases expected health care costs that will be shouldered by the government. As a consequence, spending and health care services are not balanced in order to provide the entire population equal access to health care since health care spending is concentrated on the treatment and prevention of obesity and the other serious diseases that are associated with it.
Furthermore, Obesity has, therefore, been described as a commercial success but an economic failure because the market is giving people short-term gratification and long-term obesity, making it a market failure in classic economic terms (Kopelman, Caterson Dietz, 2009 472). Within this context, obesity will greatly impact the direction and trends of the market economy. As discussed by Mazzocchi, Traill Shogren (2009), Markets exist for all types of foods, healthy and unhealthy.. .Markets also exist to improve ones health market for gyms, medicine, bicycles, health services, weight-loss clinics, and health insurance. Economists believe that markets are a good idea useful because they coordinate cost-effectively all our decentralized tastes, technology, and resources. Cosumers, producers, middlemen, and sellers can all gain by trading goods and services (Mazzochi, Traill Shogren, 2009).
Placing obesity in the picture however, modifies practices in the market economy. The lifestyle of individuals brought about by modern forms of leisure as facilitated by the rapid development of technology and innovation will lead to shifts in the needs and demands of the market. As a result, the demand of the population will limit the availability and applicability of business or organizations. For instance, there will be an increased demand in health care services and medicine for obesity and obesity-related illnesses. In order to satiate the demand, health care institution and medicinal services providers will focus more on the manufacture and production of such goods. As a result, there will be imbalance in the manufacture and production of goods and the development and implementation of health care services for all, whether their conditions are obesity-related or not. Other businesses and industries that are not able to satiate demand will fall affecting the country and the international markets economy.
Another scenario will be the shifts in the kind of food that will be in demand. The prevention of obesity and obesity-related diseases will signal the change in the demand and price for different kind so food. Health food choices will more likely be in demand as opposed to unhealthy choices. Similarly, other businesses and industries that do not provide food products or goods that are not in demand will suffer, lose the market share, and cease contribution to the development of economies if it will be unable to sustain operations, employment, productivity, and so on. The expected changes in the market economy are one of the disadvantages or potential risks involved in obesity due to modern forms of leisure. However, overall, the large health care costs attributed to the treatment and prevention of obesity and obesity-related diseases is the primary reason why obesity is disadvantageous to local and international economies. (Kawachi Wamala, 2007 Great Britain House of Commons, 2004)