Gluttony & Sloth: The Moral Politics of Obesity Discourse

<p>In this dissertation, I investigate why 'official obesity discourse' discusses obesity in terms of the sins of gluttony and sloth. This question leads me to survey the moral politics of 'official obesity discourse' in New Zealand between 1997 and 2009. I claim that 'official obesity discourse' is not neutral, and contains various ideological biases. I map the overall range of these ideologies onto a schema of three models of obesity causality. I demonstrate that each of these three models corresponds to certain general policy positions of respective governments; to certain specific health policies (issued by the Ministry of Health); and to certain medical understandings of causality. I further show how each ideological model moralises obesity, in a manner that casts various groups and forces in the role of scapegoat. Finally, I argue that the three models of obesity causality I have identified discriminate against people on low incomes and in certain ethnic groups. My study concludes with a research model which can be used by other researchers to reveal the ideological and moral dimensions of obesity discourse in their own contexts.</p>

Gluttony & Sloth: The Moral Politics of Obesity Discourse

<p>In this dissertation, I investigate why 'official obesity discourse' discusses obesity in terms of the sins of gluttony and sloth. This question leads me to survey the moral politics of 'official obesity discourse' in New Zealand between 1997 and 2009. I claim that 'official obesity discourse' is not neutral, and contains various ideological biases. I map the overall range of these ideologies onto a schema of three models of obesity causality. I demonstrate that each of these three models corresponds to certain general policy positions of respective governments; to certain specific health policies (issued by the Ministry of Health); and to certain medical understandings of causality. I further show how each ideological model moralises obesity, in a manner that casts various groups and forces in the role of scapegoat. Finally, I argue that the three models of obesity causality I have identified discriminate against people on low incomes and in certain ethnic groups. My study concludes with a research model which can be used by other researchers to reveal the ideological and moral dimensions of obesity discourse in their own contexts.</p>

“That chart ain’t for us”: How Black women understand “obesity,” health, and physical activity

In this article, we use qualitative methodology to explore how eight physically active Black women, who self-identify as “obese,” understand and experience health and physical activity, as well as how they position themselves in relation to discourses pertaining to “obesity” and Black femininity. Drawing on Foucauldian-informed critical obesity scholarship and Black feminist thought, we explore the ways in which physically active Black women concurrently resist, reproduce, and navigate racialized and gendered obesity discourse. Our findings advance critical obesity scholarship as we indicate that participants simultaneously adapt to, negotiate, and resist obesity discourse by re-defining health, questioning the BMI, and centering their desire for corporeal “thickness” as critical to their identity as Black women.

The Dominant Obesity Discourse Versus Children’s Conceptualizations of Health: A Comparison Through Dialogue and Drawings

The emphasis on childhood obesity reduction has been attributed to the dominant obesity discourse. However, some researchers argue that this discourse may be ineffective and even harmful for children. From a post-structuralist perspective, the dominant obesity discourse has the power to shape children’s subjectivities, though subjectivities may also be influenced by personal experiences and other knowledge about bodies and health. There is limited research which explores how children’s conceptualizations of health are informed by the dominant obesity discourse. To address this knowledge gap, qualitative data were collected from 8- to 11-year-old children ( n = 29) regarding their conceptualizations of health, healthy bodies, and health practices. Results suggest that children’s conceptualizations reflected arguments embedded within the dominant obesity discourse, but at times, also contradicted or deviated from it. Study findings can be applied toward children’s health promotion programming to offer a more holistic and inclusive perspective on health and well-being.

Physical Cultures of Stigmatisation: Health Policy & Social Class

In recent years, the increasing regulation of people's health and bodies has been exacerbated by a contemporary ‘obesity discourse’ centred on eating less, exercising more and losing weight. This paper contributes to the growing body of work critically examining this discourse and highlights the way physical activity and health policy directed at ‘tackling’ the obesity ‘crisis’ in the UK articulates numerous powerful discourses that operate to legitimise and privilege certain ways of knowing and usher forth certain desirable forms of embodiment. This has given greater impetus to further define the role of physical activity, sport and physical education as instruments for addressing public health agendas. It is argued that these policies have particular implications for social class through their constitution of (un)healthy and (in)active ‘working class’ bodies. One of the most powerful forms of stigmatisation and discrimination circulating within contemporary health emerges when the social and cultural tensions of social class intersect with obesity discourse and its accompanying imperatives related to physical activity and diet. This raises some important questions about the future of sport and physical activity as it is shaped by the politics of broader health agendas and our position within this terrain as ‘critics’. Consequently, the latter part of the paper offers reflections on the nature and utility of our (and others’) social science critique in the politics of obesity and articulates the need for crossing disciplinary and sectoral borders.