Obesity has become global problem.

In 2014, more than 2

billion people all over the world were overweight. That
consists 18 years and older. Of that 600 million people
were obese. Worldwide obesity has almost doubled
between 1980 and 2014. Moreover, 3% of the worlds
adult population (11% of men and 15% of women) was
obese in 2014.In addition to that in 2014, 39% of adults
aged 18 years and over (38% of men and 40% of women)
were overweight. There is tremendous increase in rate of
the children obesity. In 2014, 42 million children below 5
years of age were obese. It is estimated that 6.9 million
Australian will be obese by 2025. (World Health
Organisation,2015)
In Australia obesity among people consists various
reasons like increasing sedentary lifestyles, poor
education related nutrition and accessibility of the fast
food. In that scenario, fast food companies, government
and community are the stakeholders who responsible for
this cause. Among them fast food companies are pointed
to be prime stakeholder for obesity. They are criticized for
marketing ploys of unhealthy junk food targeted towards
the low-income earners and children. It is difficult for
consumers to make informed choices and prevent the
unhealthy choices. (Bobba, 2014).
Individual makes
choice for their personal lifestyle and behaviors and in that
physical and social conditions and environment play vital
role. Various organizations have demanded food-labeling
policy, which will be right step towards the consumerism.
A
food-labeling
scheme
that
is
clear
and comprehensible can be effective in enabling
consumers to make informed purchasing decisions and
influence consumer behavior. Various Industry experts are
asking government to react and impose restrictions on
junk food as specially reduce the childhood obesity. Till so
far authorities have allowed food and beverage companies
to experiment as self -regulation.(Petty & Seiders,2004).
On the other hand companies like McDonalds and KFC are
blaming parents for obesity. They are arguing that parents
should educate their kids about eating unhealthy food in
moderation as part of a balanced diet and active lifestyle.
(Herron,2014)

Health and obesity are influenced by a wide range of

historical, environmental, social, cultural, genetic, political,
and economic factors. In response to tackle issue of
obesity various brands have modified their product
portfolio and pricing strategies. For instance, McDonalds
and Subway have introduced healthier meal options such
as salad.(ATWATER ,SUZUKI,2006).On the other hand,
various tactics of brands are also come under the criticism
like McDonalds Happy Meals for children with toys has
come under attack. San Francisco is one of the cities that
have voted to ban selling toys with fast food for children
that exceed certain levels of salt, fat, calories and sugar.
The brand was alleged for deceptive marketing practices
promoting toys to buy happy meals. Fast food advertising
on social networking sites can manipulate young
audiences their purchasing likelihood, their views of fast
food and their eating habits. Most of leading brands have
increased their budget for promotions and advertising and
sales promotions such as discounts and coupons even
after coming under criticism. (Taichon & Quach,2015)
Various food brands are doing charity or supporting cause
as a part of the corporate social responsibility of the
organization. It also includes health and physical
education. Those really divert people from core issue that
junk food causes obesity. CSR has become reputation
insurance. Many brands are using CSR as tool to cover the
issue of obesity. It is expected that various leading brands
will spend more amount in the CSR to increase brand
loyalty and trust to sideline the main issue of the Obesity
and effects on the society. (Powell, 2013).

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Powell, D. (2013, January 18). Coca-Cola part of the solution to

obesity? Yeah right! Retrieved from
http://theconversation.com/coca-cola-part-of-the-solution-toobesity-yeah-right-11662
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