Personal and Social Responsibility in Obesity

Abstract

Abstract The health of a population is a social asset. The individual and the society contribute to it through biology and behaviour, environment and health systems. An ethical and responsible conduct from all parties is expected but difficult to legislate while seeking to respect personal and collective rights and freedoms. Out of all chronic diseases related to lifestyle, obesity is the best example to give when discussing if individuals are the only ones responsible for engaging in healthy behaviours or not, or whether environmental factors undermine their ability to act in their best interest and erode their freedom. It is still a controversial issue if the heath systems resources could be distributed according to the personal responsibility for health. The aim of this article is to review literature data about personal and social responsibility in relation to obesity.