Obesity

Abstract

Obesity is a medical label for people with “larger bodies” (variously defined) which has taken hold in the lay populace. Epidemiological studies link obesity to various noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, often leading to higher death rates. Quantitative sociological studies show how obesity is socioeconomically patterned (higher levels of obesity in more socioeconomically disadvantaged groups), with the “causes” of obesity found in the material, economic, and political foundations of society as opposed to being a “problem” of the individual. Qualitative and more theoretically oriented sociological studies have identified the medicalization of fatness as a problem, since it leads to discrimination, stigmatization, and negative mental health outcomes for people defined as “obese.” However, such research has also spurned social and academic movements such as “fat activism” and “critical fat studies” which seek to understand and work to resist such negative stereotypes.