UH sociologist has different perspective on obesity 'epidemic'

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Public release date: 16-Mar-2009

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/uoh-ush031609.php

Contact: Kelli Ferrell

kaferrell@...

University of Houston

UH sociologist has different perspective on obesity 'epidemic'

While there may be truths, she says, there are competing cultural meanings

Headlines tell us the nation is getting fatter, and that obesity has

become an epidemic. But there is more to the story, according to one

University of Houston sociologist.

While she acknowledges that there has been a shift in body weight over

the years, assistant sociology professor Kwan looks at obesity

from a different perspective.

The term obesity was constructed by the medical community, Kwan says.

And the use of the Body Mass Index, which measures obesity, as the main

factor to define obesity, has resulted in the media greatly overstating

the rise of the condition.

" This epidemic has been constructed to the benefit of the medical

industry that has in part medicalized the treatment of obesity over the

years, " Kwan says. " While there may be a rise in 'obesity,' the BMI is

not always accurate. Some scholars describe this epidemic more as a

moral panic. While there may be some truths to rising rates, they have

been overstated. "

Kwan, who has been studying gender and body image since 2001, examines

how cultural beauty messages about fat interact with other cultural

messages about fat, such as health discourses. This is summarized in her

article " Framing the Fat Body: Contested Meanings between Government,

Activists and Industry, " published in February's Sociological Inquiry.

" I am trying to get students and audiences to understand that there are

competing cultural meanings about the fat body, " Kwan says. " Fat does

not, in itself, signify unhealthy and unattractive. These are cultural

constructions. We as a society say what it means to be fat, and right

now cultural discourses say it's ugly and unhealthy to be fat. … It's

also assumed that the body is a reflection of the psyche, including

one's moral fiber. "

Kwan has found that women's self-esteem is more closely tied to weight

than men's.

" Women care about their weight and appearance, and I don't want to say

that they are being co-opted by cultural messages, " Kwan says. " They are

not necessarily cultural dupes with false consciousness. They want to

lose weight, look good/thin/beautiful, and to conform to body messages

because there are rewards to be gained and sanctions to be avoided when

one is, or passes, as thin. "

Kwan covers this topic more closely in her article " Beauty Work:

Individual and Institutional Rewards, the Reproduction of Gender and

Questions of Agency, " published in February's Sociology Compass. Along

with co-author Nell Trautner, of the University at Buffalo, SUNY,

Kwan addresses how physical attractiveness is associated with a number

of positive outcomes, including employment benefits such as hiring,

wages and promotion, and is correlated with social and personal rewards

such as work satisfaction, positive perceptions of others and higher

self-esteem.

" Feeling like they're unattractive is a big problem women struggle with,

and a lot of this has to do with beauty ideals, " Kwan says. " Yes, there

is a culture out there that says women are supposed to look a certain

way. Research shows that promotions and wages are based partly on the

way women look, including their weight. Women are preoccupied with

losing weight; yet conforming to norms can bring benefits beyond being

healthier. You can avoid a lot of the stigma, and we know women are

stigmatized for being 'overweight.' "

Again, while Kwan states that she believes the obesity epidemic is

overstated and that we need to understand how the fat body and this

" epidemic " are socially constructed, she attributes many factors to the

rise in weight, including the availability of quick, inexpensive foods

and lack of affordable ways to exercise.

" There's a lot of confusion regarding nutrition information, and

consumers often get conflicting messages about diet and activity, " she

says. " There is some evidence that the food industry sometimes uses the

same strategies as the tobacco industry to mislead consumers. "

Kwan has an article discussing this topic more closely titled

" Individual versus Corporate Responsibility: Market Choice, the Food

Industry and the Pervasiveness of Moral Models of Fatness, " to be

published later this year. She also has received a University of Houston

Women's Studies Faculty Summer Fellowship to complete a book on

contested cultural meanings about body, health and weight.

--

ne Holden, MS, RD

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/