Diabesity and Weight Loss :
Examining Rujuta Diwekar’s Conversation Through a Systems Viewpoint
Rujuta Diwekar, in her conversation on weight loss and diabesity, is able to deliver a comprehensive outlook on contemporary diet habits, and their link to the globalized economy, because she is able to outline a birds’ eye view of the networks — through a systems perspective — that link aspects as varied as fad diets and the amount of nitrogen in the soil.
Hence, placing Diwekar’s conversation in a visual Systems Map further allowed to me achieve a finer understanding of her claims and explanations of diabesity.
For instance, Loops are an essential part of Systems Thinking. Loops allow one to visualize the relationship between different parts in a whole. For example, understanding how the idea of weight loss, coupled with a lack of interest in local foods can kickstart a loop, as illustrated below, really helps outline how collective demand can have not only economic but ecological consequences as well. In other words, to map the logic behind falling nitrogen content in Indian soil — and trace it back to consumption patterns that favor western foods — is made much simpler and at the same time elaborate through the use of Systems Loops.
However, Systems Thinking is not limited to just loops. Many Systems Concepts can further help us understand Diwekar’s claims.
For example. Diabesity is an Unintended Consequence, and that is so because actual nutrition and health are Eroding Goals in the system as modern consumption shifts toward lose-weight-quick schemes as well as fad diets. Furthermore, Fad Diets in and of themselves are examples of Fixes That Fail. Fixes That Fail, in Systems Thinking is understood as, temporary measures that address symptoms in the short run (the symptomatic desire being weight loss, “flat bellies”) but fail to address the root cause (lack of nutritious diets and exercise) in the long run. Fad Diet- Fix that Fails- trends lead to another unintended consequence, which is Hidden Hunger. Hidden Hunger is indeed linked to a loss of productivity, collectively suffered by “every affluent Indian”, as Diwekar points out in her conversation.
However, what takes Diwekar’s understanding even further is her identification of two Leverage Points within this whole system, based on which she suggests two interventions. Firstly, the Grandmom Test allows her to simplify the process of selecting local foods. This, along with her “ the food miles = your belly size” allows her to directly target the leverage points of modern consumption attitudes, wherein people want to simply lose weight and have flat bellies.
To conclude, Diwekar’s elaborate understanding of the links between modern consumption patterns, demand-supply trends and food fads allows us to understand the parts as aspects of a much larger whole. Systems Mapping this whole in a holistic manner further allows us not only understand the various links, but further derive insights from the same.
