The End of the Obesity Epidemic

The End of the Obesity Epidemic PDF

Author: Michael Gard

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-11-05

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 1134009704

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Despite apocalyptic predictions from a vocal alliance of health professionals, politicians and social commentators that rising obesity levels would lead to a global health crisis, the crisis has not materialised. Offering a road map through the maze of claims and counter-claims, while still holding to a sceptical standpoint, The End of the Obesity Epidemic provides an unparalleled anatomy of obesity as a scientific, political and cultural issue. It is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the science or sociology of health and lifestyle.

A Big Fat Crisis

A Big Fat Crisis PDF

Author: Deborah Cohen

Publisher: Bold Type Books

Published: 2013-12-24

Total Pages: 159

ISBN-13: 1568589654

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Obesity is the public health crisis of the twenty-first century. Over 150 million Americans are overweight or obese, and across the globe an estimated 1.5 billion are affected. In A Big Fat Crisis, Dr. Deborah A. Cohen has created a major new work that will transform the conversation surrounding the modern weight crisis. Based on her own extensive research, as well as the latest insights from behavioral economics and cognitive science, Cohen reveals what drives the obesity epidemic and how we, as a nation, can overcome it. Cohen argues that the massive increase in obesity is the product of two forces. One is the immutable aspect of human nature, namely the fundamental limits of self-control and the unconscious ways we are hard-wired to eat. And second is the completely transformed modern food environment, including lower prices, larger portion sizes, and the outsized influence of food advertising. We live in a food swamp, where food is cheap, ubiquitous, and insidiously marketed. This, rather than the much-discussed "food deserts," is the source of the epidemic. The conventional wisdom is that overeating is the expression of individual weakness and a lack of self-control. But that would mean that people in this country had more willpower thirty years ago, when the rate of obesity was half of what it is today! The truth is that our capacity for self-control has not shrunk; instead, the changing conditions of our modern world have pushed our limits to such an extent that more and more of us are simply no longer up to the challenge. Ending this public health crisis will require solutions that transcend the advice found in diet books. Simply urging people to eat less sugar, salt, and fat has not worked. A Big Fat Crisis offers concrete recommendations and sweeping policy changes-including implementing smart and effective regulations and constructing a more balanced food environment-that represent nothing less than a blueprint for defeating the obesity epidemic once and for all.

The End of the Obesity Epidemic

The End of the Obesity Epidemic PDF

Author: Michael Gard

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-11-05

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 1134009690

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Despite apocalyptic predictions from a vocal alliance of health professionals, politicians and social commentators that rising obesity levels would lead to a global health crisis, the crisis has not materialised. In this provocative follow up to his classic work of obesity scepticism, The Obesity Epidemic, Michael Gard argues that we have entered into a new, and perhaps terminal, phase of the obesity debate. Evidence suggests that obesity rates are levelling off in Western societies, life expectancies continue to rise in line with rising obesity rates, and across the world policy-makers have remained largely indifferent and inactive in the face of this apparently deadly threat to our health and well-being. Dissecting and dismissing much of the over-blown rhetoric and ideological bias found on both sides of the obesity debate, Gard demonstrates that the science of obesity remains radically uncertain and that it is impossible to establish an objective ‘truth’ on which to base policy. His powerful and inescapable conclusion is that we should now mark the end of the obesity epidemic. Offering a road map through the maze of claims and counter-claims, while still holding to a sceptical standpoint, this book provides an unparalleled anatomy of obesity as a scientific, political and cultural issue. It is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the science or sociology of health and lifestyle.

The Obesity Epidemic

The Obesity Epidemic PDF

Author: Michael Gard

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9780415318969

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In a broad ranging review of current thinking on obesity, the authors criticise much of the existing research for being biased by ideological and moral assumptions.

The Surgeon General's Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation, 2010

The Surgeon General's Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation, 2010 PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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In the 2001 Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, former Surgeon General David Satcher, MD, PhD, warned of the negative effects of the increasing weight of American citizens and outlined a public health response to reverse the trend. The Surgeon General plans to strengthen and expand this blueprint for action created by her predecessor. Although the country has made some strides since 2001, the prevalence of obesity, obesity-related diseases, and premature death remains too high.

Fat in the Fifties

Fat in the Fifties PDF

Author: Nicolas Rasmussen

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

Published: 2019-03-26

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1421428717

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Fat in the Fifties is required reading for public health practitioners and researchers, physicians, historians of medicine, and anyone concerned about weight and weight loss.

Fat Land

Fat Land PDF

Author: Greg Critser

Publisher: HMH

Published: 2004-01-05

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0547526687

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“An in-depth, well-researched, and thoughtful exploration of the ‘fat boom’ in America.” —TheBoston Globe Low carb, high protein, raw foods . . . despite our seemingly endless obsession with fad diets, the startling truth is that six out of ten Americans are overweight or obese. In Fat Land, award-winning nutrition and health journalist Greg Critser examines the facts and societal factors behind the sensational headlines, taking on everything from supersize to Super Mario, high-fructose corn syrup to the high costs of physical education. With a sharp eye and even sharper tongue, Critser examines why pediatricians are now treating conditions rarely seen in children before; why type 2 diabetes is on the rise; the personal struggles of those with weight problems—especially among the poor—and how agribusiness has altered our waistlines. Praised by the New York Times as “absorbing” and by Newsday as “riveting,” this disarmingly funny, yet truly alarming, exposé stands as an important examination of one of the most pressing medical and social issues in the United States. “One scary book and a good companion to Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.” —Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Heavy

Heavy PDF

Author: Helene A. Shugart

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-06-07

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 0190210648

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The current "obesity epidemic" has been at the top of the national and, increasingly, global public agenda for the last decade, the subject of extensive and intensive concern, scrutiny, and corrective efforts from various quarters. In the United States, much of this attention is predicated on the "official" discourse, or story, of obesity-that it is a matter of personal responsibility, specifically to the end of monitoring and ensuring appropriate caloric balance. However, even though it continues to have cultural presumption, that discourse does not resonate with the populace, which may explain why efforts of redress have been notoriously ineffective. In this book, Helene Shugart places obesity in cultural, political, and economic context, arguing that current anxieties regarding obesity reflect the contemporary crisis in neoliberalism, and that the failure of the official discourse of obesity mirrors the failure of neoliberalism more broadly: specifically, to account for authenticity, a powerfully resonant cultural concept today. She chronicles a number of competing discourses of obesity that have arisen in response to the failed official discourse, examining and evaluating each in relation to the idea of authenticity; assessing the practical and behavioral implications of each discourse for both obesity incidence and redress; and establishing the significance of each discourse for negotiating neoliberalism in crisis more broadly.

Can the Obesity Crisis Be Reversed?

Can the Obesity Crisis Be Reversed? PDF

Author: Rexford S. Ahima

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2021-12-28

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1421442728

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How can we work together to understand the rise of obesity and reverse its related diseases and societal impacts? Obesity is a complex condition that increases a person's risk for developing diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, and other life-threatening conditions. Contrary to prevailing notions that it results solely from a person's diet and exercise failings, a predisposition to obesity is actually determined by genetics as well as by environmental and socioeconomic factors that lie beyond individual control. In Can the Obesity Crisis Be Reversed?, Dr. Rexford Ahima draws on his extensive laboratory and clinical experiences at top institutions to examine the complicated causes of obesity, as well as the most cutting-edge approaches for prevention and treatment. Ahima looks at how the rising trends of obesity and associated diseases are driving up health care costs. He also offers insight into the widespread suffering that obesity imposes and its disproportionate impacts in minority and underserved communities. Calling for greater societal and community engagement in stemming the obesity crisis, Ahima argues that there is an urgent need to promote healthier foods and environmental infrastructure as well as formal programs that reduce obesity. By understanding and applying fundamental knowledge, Can the Obesity Crisis Be Reversed? makes a convincing case that all of us, working individually and collectively, can help to reverse the obesity crisis. Features • Provides information on the biological pathways that control eating and metabolism • Explains genetic and environmental bases of obesity • Reviews the contributions of diet and physical activity to weight gain while speaking to the folly and dangers of individual blame • Offers practical recommendations for healthy diets, exercise, and lifestyle • Discusses current medical and surgical treatments of obesity • Examines comprehensive societal strategies for obesity prevention Johns Hopkins Wavelengths In classrooms, field stations, and laboratories in Baltimore and around the world, the Bloomberg Distinguished Professors of Johns Hopkins University are opening the boundaries of our understanding of many of the world's most complex challenges. The Johns Hopkins Wavelengths book series brings readers inside their stories, illustrating how their pioneering discoveries benefit people in their neighborhoods and across the globe in artificial intelligence, cancer research, food systems' environmental impacts, health equity, science diplomacy, and other critical arenas of study. Through these compelling narratives, their insights will spark conversations from dorm rooms to dining rooms to boardrooms.