Obesity is not an Epidemic

Introduction

Obesity is the excessive accumulation of body fat, especially in adipose tissue, and can be charged for the weight gain when it reaches 20% over ideal weight for age, height, and sex of the person concerned. To calculate the ideal weight of a child between 2 and 5 years of age, multiply the age in years two and eight, although this is only approximate. Obesity is a condition characterized by excess body fat distributed across the board in various areas of the body fat. Obesity is defined by a Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is calculated by dividing the person weight by the square of height (kg/m2). If this index is greater than or equal to 30, the individual is considered obese. Between 25 and 30, we talk about pre-obesity.

The BMI as a calculation, and the widely accepted guidelines that accompany it, come with considerable controversy. For example, in the 1990s, the guidelines used to determine overweight and obese individuals was adjusted downward to include those with a BMI of 25-26; no adjustment is made for lean muscle mass. Obesity is often defined as being 20 percent over the midpoint of one's accepted weight range (using the height weight charts) or above 30 on the BMI. Morbid obesity is defined as weighing almost twice the weight the chart says they should, or above 35 on the BMI.

Obesity in children is a growing global problem. The problem has become so alarming that several international organizations studying the issue very seriously, including the World Health Organization. According to this, measures must be taken immediately to combat this epidemic problem and its impact. In Canada, the number of overweight children is growing. Between 1981 and 1996, the percentage of overweight boys increased by 92% and girls increased by 57%. In Quebec, it has been estimated that between 10% and 15% of children are obese. In addition to these physical problems, overweight children are often rejected from other children and are more likely to have poor self-esteem.

Discussion

Obesity is not an Epidemic but a Sociological Phenomenon

Much work in the sociology of the body and many of the key perspectives within the area are focused upon the relatively self-conscious and reflexive efforts of social agents to shape their bodies in specific ways, often in accordance with what are identified as central social values: that is, slimness, fitness, self-mastery, health and efficiency. The concept of 'body projects', used by both Giddens (1991) and Shilling (1993), falls into this camp, as does the more critical Foucauldian approach, both with its concept of self-policing and with its concept of 'technologies of the self' (Foucault, 1979, 1980a, 1987). Indeed, even when Foucault discusses resistance he presupposes an internalisation of the abovementioned corporeal ideals and their pursuit. Resistance centred upon the body, Foucault claims, is resistance rooted in the 'mastery and awareness' of the body generated by body-power regimes and the incorporation of discourses of health, sexuality etc. (Foucault, 1980a).

The 'sexual liberation' of the 1960s, as ...