Couldn’t get passed 3:06. I am examining the ‘obesity epidemic’ as part of my thesis and here a few thoughts on this issue.
The sorts of phrases he uses have dominated discussion of obesity and body weight for the passed ten years:
“Tsunami of obesity unfurling across the world”, “childhood obesity, the ticking time-bomb”, “obesity, worse than terrorism”, or the classic – “the first generation when children will die younger than their parents”.
These doomsday scenarios have been shouted by politicians, obesity scientists, public health academics, and celebrities. But there is a lot more rhetoric than substance. ‘The worse the news, the better it travels’.
Oliver says:
“66% of this room is overweight or obese. The statistics of bad health are clear, very clear.”
Two things about this 1) ‘the statistics are bad’ 2) the link between weight and health has not been established.
1) Stats not people
Statistics are bad, or as Nicola Roxon said the statistics on obesity were ‘staggering’, however what it actually means for people is unclear.
There are a lot of problems with stats – firstly nobody knows what obesity is as a stable scientific entity. BMI is an indicator not a definition. Secondly, overweight is lumped in with obesity to make the stats look more frightening. Current statistics suggest that only 7.8% of Australian obese – not this cataclysmic tidal wave of fat. Thirdly, there was a statistical spike of population body mass from around 1985 – 1995 which first made everyone freak out as they thought the growth would increase at the same rate, meaning that “by 2020 everyone will be obese”. But what the stats actually from is a evening out from the late 1990’s. Finally, the other stat that just doesn’t fit with these doomsday scenarios is that Western life expectancy continues to increase. People aren’t dying or developing diabetes at the rate predicted.
2) Weight does not equate to health
I am not referring to extreme and rare cases of what is referred to as morbidly obese, but the general discourse of weight and health aimed at the population through campaigns like Measure Up. The use of weight as a proxy for health is epidemiologically problematic. There is no clear causal link between weight and health.
A more troubling is the fact in combination with this is that sustained weight-loss (i.e. for over five years) is notoriously difficult – unless you have surgery. So people are told that their bodies need to conform to a specific spectrum BMI 18.9 – 24.9 –without strong evidence that a BMI between 25 and 30 has an impact on health. Yet there is no way that they can conform long term unless they have a dangerous surgery that is proven to have a potentially negative impact on health.
While the link between weight and physical health is uncertain, we are held captive by ideas of body weight because of the moral and aesthetic value we attach to the body. We may not be able to prove that body weight equals poor health, but we can say that it is lazy/slothful and ugly.
I am not suggesting that Jamie Oliver or others are acting out of malicious motives and I do think encouraging people to eat nutritious food (especially organic and free range products) is a good idea. However when this message is attached to ideals of the body and children (and adults) are encouraged to lose weight I strongly disagree.
As a society we need to acknowledge the diversity of bodies and make people feel comfortable with their bodies. Something that the Body Image Network in Canada does http://www.bodyimagenetwork.ca/
Here is a video they have done: http://youtu.be/yUTJQIBI1oA
super-appreciate your comments Chris.
really useful.
Finally, the other stat that just doesn’t fit with these doomsday scenarios is that Western life expectancy continues to increase.
i actually thought that while watching it.
——-
what’s the topic of your thesis?
No problem. It is a complex issue and I don’t think there are simple answers – especially not the eat less/exercise more approach. Body diversity is something we need to acknowledge in discussions about nutrition and health – I imagine that it is an issue that will increasingly come up in Youth Ministry too.
To keep it short I’ll have to revert to jargon, but basically my thesis is looking at the way lifestyle is used as a ‘biopolitical apparatus’that governs the individual and through the individual governs the self.’ Happy to expand if you’d like.
Hi Dave,
Couldn’t get passed 3:06. I am examining the ‘obesity epidemic’ as part of my thesis and here a few thoughts on this issue.
The sorts of phrases he uses have dominated discussion of obesity and body weight for the passed ten years:
“Tsunami of obesity unfurling across the world”, “childhood obesity, the ticking time-bomb”, “obesity, worse than terrorism”, or the classic – “the first generation when children will die younger than their parents”.
These doomsday scenarios have been shouted by politicians, obesity scientists, public health academics, and celebrities. But there is a lot more rhetoric than substance. ‘The worse the news, the better it travels’.
Oliver says:
“66% of this room is overweight or obese. The statistics of bad health are clear, very clear.”
Two things about this 1) ‘the statistics are bad’ 2) the link between weight and health has not been established.
1) Stats not people
Statistics are bad, or as Nicola Roxon said the statistics on obesity were ‘staggering’, however what it actually means for people is unclear.
There are a lot of problems with stats – firstly nobody knows what obesity is as a stable scientific entity. BMI is an indicator not a definition. Secondly, overweight is lumped in with obesity to make the stats look more frightening. Current statistics suggest that only 7.8% of Australian obese – not this cataclysmic tidal wave of fat. Thirdly, there was a statistical spike of population body mass from around 1985 – 1995 which first made everyone freak out as they thought the growth would increase at the same rate, meaning that “by 2020 everyone will be obese”. But what the stats actually from is a evening out from the late 1990’s. Finally, the other stat that just doesn’t fit with these doomsday scenarios is that Western life expectancy continues to increase. People aren’t dying or developing diabetes at the rate predicted.
2) Weight does not equate to health
I am not referring to extreme and rare cases of what is referred to as morbidly obese, but the general discourse of weight and health aimed at the population through campaigns like Measure Up. The use of weight as a proxy for health is epidemiologically problematic. There is no clear causal link between weight and health.
A more troubling is the fact in combination with this is that sustained weight-loss (i.e. for over five years) is notoriously difficult – unless you have surgery. So people are told that their bodies need to conform to a specific spectrum BMI 18.9 – 24.9 –without strong evidence that a BMI between 25 and 30 has an impact on health. Yet there is no way that they can conform long term unless they have a dangerous surgery that is proven to have a potentially negative impact on health.
While the link between weight and physical health is uncertain, we are held captive by ideas of body weight because of the moral and aesthetic value we attach to the body. We may not be able to prove that body weight equals poor health, but we can say that it is lazy/slothful and ugly.
I am not suggesting that Jamie Oliver or others are acting out of malicious motives and I do think encouraging people to eat nutritious food (especially organic and free range products) is a good idea. However when this message is attached to ideals of the body and children (and adults) are encouraged to lose weight I strongly disagree.
As a society we need to acknowledge the diversity of bodies and make people feel comfortable with their bodies. Something that the Body Image Network in Canada does http://www.bodyimagenetwork.ca/
Here is a video they have done:
http://youtu.be/yUTJQIBI1oA
super-appreciate your comments Chris.
really useful.
Finally, the other stat that just doesn’t fit with these doomsday scenarios is that Western life expectancy continues to increase.
i actually thought that while watching it.
——-
what’s the topic of your thesis?
No problem. It is a complex issue and I don’t think there are simple answers – especially not the eat less/exercise more approach. Body diversity is something we need to acknowledge in discussions about nutrition and health – I imagine that it is an issue that will increasingly come up in Youth Ministry too.
To keep it short I’ll have to revert to jargon, but basically my thesis is looking at the way lifestyle is used as a ‘biopolitical apparatus’that governs the individual and through the individual governs the self.’ Happy to expand if you’d like.