Obesity [electronic resource] : cultural and biocultural perspectives / Alexandra A. Brewis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brewis, Alexandra A., 1965-

Series:

Studies in medical anthropology.

Studies in medical anthropology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Obesity--Social aspects.

Obesity.

Medical anthropology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (231 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In a world now filled with more people who are overweight than underweight, public health and medical perspectives paint obesity as a catastrophic epidemic that threatens to overwhelm health systems and undermine life expectancies globally. In many societies, being obese also creates profound personal suffering because it is so culturally stigmatized. Yet despite loud messages about the health and social costs of being obese, weight gain is a seemingly universal aspect of the modern human condition. Grounded in a holistic anthropological approach and using a range of ethnographic and ecological case studies, Obesity shows that the human tendency to become and stay fat makes perfect sense in terms of evolved human inclinations and the physical and social realities of modern life. Drawing on her own fieldwork in the rural United States, Mexico, and the Pacific Islands over the last two decades, Alexandra A. Brewis addresses such critical questions as why obesity is defined as a problem and why some groups are so much more at risk than others. She suggests innovative ways that anthropology and other social sciences can use community-based research to address the serious public health and social justice concerns provoked by the global spread of obesity.

Contents:

Introduction: the problem with obesity

Defining obesity

Obesity and human adaptation

The distribution of risk

Culture and body ideals

Big-body symbolism, meanings, and norms

Conclusion: the big picture.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-200) and index.

ISBN:

1-283-86435-5

0-8135-5238-9

OCLC:

778339953