[Responsibility and solidarity in obesity prevention].
Attempts to solve the problem of obesity raise controversies regarding individual responsibility and solidarity. The arguments concern which burdens are to be carried privately and which are to be absorbed collectively. To some extent, the disputes stem from a reluctance to acknowledge that obesity in fact covers two issues: the first, i.e., the social issue, covers the prevalence of obesity and is thus determined by quantity. The second, i.e., the individual issue, is determined by quality and addresses individual behavior and choice. On grounds of this distinction, it can be argued that there is a collective duty to show solidarity with concerned persons. Moreover society as a whole has to acknowledge responsibility with regard to the causation and alteration of conditions that prevent individuals from being as slim as they want to be. Not until autonomy in this respect can be factually exercised, is the claim for self-responsibility legitimate.
Kaminisky
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C
Sozialphilosophie/Ethik, Fakultät für Angewandte Sozialwissenschaften, Fachhochschule Köln, Mainzer Strasse 5, 50678 Köln, Deutschland. carmen.kaminsky@fh-koeln.de