Book Review
The Obesity Epidemic: science, morality and ideology
Michael Gard and Jan Wright
reviewed by
Wendy Russell
In a new book published this year by
Routledge, Physical Education specialists Michael Gard and Jan Wright describe
the ‘obesity epidemic’, not as a contemporary phenomenon, but as a social
construct based on a “pot-pourri of science, morality and ideological
assumptions”. The aim of the authors is not so much to contest the ideas that
overweight and obesity are becoming more prevalent and that there are health
concerns associated with obesity, although these ideas are subject to critical
scrutiny. The point of the book is to consider the moral and ideological
positions that inform the notion of an ‘epidemic’ of obesity, and the social and
political effects, both on how people think about bodies and weight, and on the
policies, programs and actions that arise. The book considers the science of
overweight and obesity, the influence of this science on policy-making and
education, and how this science is translated by the media and ‘popular science’
into public consciousness. It considers whether the notion of an ‘obesity
epidemic’ is true and fair and, more importantly, whether it is helpful.
One of the most important contributions of this provocative book is in questioning the assumptions that form the basis of most people’s thinking about overweight and obesity. These assumptions are based on long-standing claims about overweight which have been sustained by ‘obesity science’, and which the authors challenge. Despite increasingly intensive research into overweight and obesity, they argue, there continue to be areas of considerable uncertainty and confusion, particularly in relation to ‘the problem’ of obesity, its causation and solution. Some of the claims that are challenged include: that overweight and obesity necessarily cause ill health, that overweight and obesity are caused by overeating, that overweight and obesity are caused by a lack of exercise, and that ‘modern Western lifestyles’ and attendant technologies, by creating the conditions for overeating and sedentariness, cause obesity.
It is the challenge to scientific claims about obesity that makes this book controversial. The authors’ main purpose in critiquing these claims is to ask why, given a lack of evidence, these claims about overweight and obesity continue to be made. They do not set up counter-claims that successfully contradict the prevalent assumptions, but they make the reader think twice about them. They also provide a compelling argument that questions of morality and ideology inform and drive claims and recommendations coming from obesity science. Overweight and obesity are framed in terms of decadence and decline, a “modern-day story of sloth and gluttony”, particularly associated with Western society.
The authors suggest that
recommendations based on the claims of ‘obesity science’ may be
counter-productive, both in failing to change people’s behaviours and in
stigmatising fatness. They suggest that, in particular, a mechanistic view of
the human body has contributed little to understanding and responding to
overweight and obesity. They argue that this view leads to an understanding of
overweight and obesity as an individual responsibility, a question of personal
discipline and self-control, and ignores social, economic and cultural factors,
including the actions of “governments, corporations and other institutions”.
One chapter of the book presents a number of alternative perspectives, including those of feminists. This chapter links the issue of obesity, particularly for women, with the issue of “culture’s grip on the body”. It considers women’s bodies, expectations about them, how these have changed through history and how they reflect cultural and political values and attitudes towards women. In this context, the extraordinary attention given to body weight reflects a more general set of demands on women’s bodies and appearance, and creates even more stigma and anxiety for women. In reaction, overweight for some women has become a symbol of resistance to these cultural demands.
The book provides an important and useful critique of the notion of the ‘obesity epidemic’ and the ideas and science that underpin it and is valuable in opening up this important area of debate, policy and culture.