Obesity

Beatrice-Ştefania Tomșa

University Fernando Pessoa

Cultural studies

Anthropology of the Body, Health and Disease

 Over the time the body placement in the coordinates of anthropology and sociology
made possible a deeper and more detailed analysis of the emotional, social and cultural
aspects involved in the experience of suffering from the disease. Thus, the disease is no more
conceptualized in terms of organic dysfunction, it is now seen as a disorder which affects the
whole experience of the individual in the world. In this essay we are going to discus about the
body image and the chronic disease obesity.
World Health organization says that overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal
or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk of health. A basic population measure of
obesity is body mass index (BMI), a person’s weight (in kilograms) divided by the square of
his or her height (in meters). A person with BMI of 30 or more is generally considered obese.
A human being with a BMI equal or more than 25 is considered overweight. Overweight and
obesity are the main risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, counting diabetes,
cardiovascular disease and cancer. Once measured as being a problem only in high income
countries, overweight and obesity are now considerably on the rise in low- and middle-
income countries, principally in urban settings.1
The most up to date study made by World Health Organization in 2016 showed that
39% of women and 39%of men aged 18 and over were overweight. 18% of children and
adolescents aged 5-19 were overweight or obese. World obesity has almost tripled since
1975. Most of the world’s population lives in countries where overweight and obesity kills
more than underweight.2
World Health Organization presents the essential cause of obesity and overweight as
being an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories exhausted.
Internationally, there has been: an greater than before intake of energy (dense foods that are
high in fat and sugar) and an amplification in physical inactivity due to the increasingly
inactive nature of many forms of work, changing modes of transportation and increasing
urbanization. The consequences of overweight and obesity are many, but it is considered that
obesity is a major factor for disease such as: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers. The
way in which overweight and obesity can be reduced as World Health Organization suggests
at the individual level are: limit energy intake from total fats and sugar, increase consumption
of fruits and vegetables, as well as grains and nuts, engage in regular physical activity.3

1
https://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/
2
https://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/
3
https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
 So far we have made a brief description of the disease being significant to know what
obesity means, which are the statistics, which are the causes, consequences but also how can
it be prevented. From now on, the paper will focus on the analysis of the emotional, social
and cultural aspects which are coming in the same time with obesity.
The consequences of being obese or overweight in terms of emotional aspect are
related to low self-esteem, anxiety, depression and most of the time all of these results lead to
even worse things such as binge eating which does not make anything else than gaining even
more kilograms but also can lead to the other extreme bulimia or anorexia.
Body image, the ways in which you see yourself build a kind of culture about
yourself: what you believe about your own exterior (including memories, assumptions and
generalizations), how you feel about your body, how you bodily experience or feel in your
body.4
The negative body image is one of the cause of disorder eating disease namely
obesity. People who experience high levels of body disappointment are more expected to
experience from feelings like depression, isolation, low self-esteem.5
Eating is pleasurable and this thing is a fact. Many people are using the act of eating
to feel emotional comfort, but this emotional eating actually leads to weight gain thing which
makes people to still feel bad about them or even worse.
When we are talking about social and cultural aspects in relation with obesity we can
refer to the why in which the socioeconomic and ethnicity influence the obesity rate and also
about the stigma concept in relation with the obesity.
On the one hand we are going to talk about the way in which the socioeconomic status
can influence the obesity rate. On the website of Population Reference Bureau were
published some studies about the way in which socioeconomic status and obesity are related.
The first study published in Social Science and Medicine which used data for 67 countries
showed that in lower-income countries people with higher socioeconomic status were more
likely to be obese and in high-income countries those with higher socioeconomic where less
likely to be obese. This result might have shown like that because in lower-income countries
the persons with higher socioeconomic status are choosing high-calorie foods while in
higher-income countries the human beings with higher socioeconomic status may choose
healthy eating and regular exercise.6
4
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/body-image-0
5
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/body-image-eating-disorders
6
https://www.prb.org/obesity-socioeconomic-status/
 Another study published in Demography has showed that men with middle-class
upbringing and lifestyle were almost as likely to be obese as those brought up in working-
poor households. For women, the relationship varied by race. For white females, all
socioeconomic status groups had a greater risk of obesity compared with the most
advantaged. Among black women only those from working-poor household were at increased
obesity risk compared with the most advantaged group.7
On the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there is a study
which shows that the connection between obesity and revenue or educational rank is
multifaceted and differs by sex and race/ethnicity. Overall, men and women with college
degrees had lower obesity risk compared with those with less education. By race/ethnicity,
the same obesity and education model was seen among non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic
black, and Hispanic women, and also among non-Hispanic white men, although the
differences were not all statistically significant. Although the difference was not statistically
significant among non-Hispanic black men, obesity prevalence increased with higher
education. Among non-Hispanic Asian women and men and Hispanic men there were no
differences in obesity prevalence by education level. Among men, obesity prevalence was
lower in the lowest and highest income groups compared with the middle income group. This
pattern was seen among non-Hispanic white and Hispanic men. Obesity prevalence was
higher in the highest income group than in the lowest income group among non-Hispanic
black men. Among women, obesity prevalence was lower in the highest income group than in
the middle and lowest income groups. This pattern was observed among non-Hispanic white,
non-Hispanic Asian, and Hispanic women. Among non-Hispanic black women, there was no
difference in obesity prevalence by income.8
These studies showed that factors which increase the risk of being an obese person
affect socioeconomic status groups differently. The groups who are most disadvantaged have
worse health and shorter longevity.

On the other hand we are going to talk about stigma and obesity. The sociologist
Erving Goffman describes the term stigma as being the “situation of the individual who is
disqualified from all full social acceptances.”9
7
https://www.prb.org/obesity-socioeconomic-status/
8
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
9
Goffman E. Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. London: Penguin; 1963.
 The World Health Organization presents stigma as “a mark of disgrace that sets a
person apart from others. When a person is labeled by their illness they are no longer seen as
an individual but as part of a stereotype group. Negative attitudes and beliefs toward this
group create prejudice which leads to negative actions and discrimination.” 10
World Health Organization made a study on weight bias and obesity stigma:
Considerations for the World Health Organization European Region. The study presents what
is weight basis and obesity stigma. “Weight bias is defined as negative attitudes towards, and
beliefs about, others because of their weight. These negative attitudes are manifested by
stereotypes and/or prejudice towards people with overweight and obesity. Internalized weight
bias is defined as holding negative beliefs about oneself due to weight or size. Weight bias
can lead to obesity stigma, which is the social sign or label affixed to an individual who is the
victim of prejudice. Obesity stigma involves actions against people with obesity that can
cause exclusion and marginalization, and lead to inequities for example, when people with
obesity do not receive adequate health care or when they are discriminated against in the
workplace or in educational settings.”11
The results of the study made by World Health Organisation showed that in terms of
the place where persons with obesity experienced bias and stigma are various: 18.7% of
people with obesity and 38% of people with severe obesity experienced this type of feelings
from educators, employers, health professionals, the media and even from friends and family.
Data from RuddCenter for Food Policy and obesity indicate that: school-aged children with
obesity experience a 63% higher chance of being bullied, 54% of adults with obesity report
being stigmatized be co-wrokers, 69% of adults with obesity report experiences of
stigmatization from health care professionals. Another intresting result is the fact that 72% of
media images and 77% of videos stimatize individuals with obesity.
The study shows the consequences of weight bias and stigma: increased depression
and anxiety, decreased self-esteem. Stigma have been associated with:poor body image and
body disatisfaction, low self-esteem and self-confidence, feelings of worthlessness and
loneliness, suicidal thoughts and acts, depression, anxiety, maladaptive eating patterns,
avoidance of physical activity, stress-induced pathophysiology, avoidance of medical care. 12

10
http://www.health.wa.gov.au/docreg/Education/Population/Health_Problems/Mental_Illness/
Mentalhealth_stigma_fact.pdf
11
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/351026/WeightBias.pdf?ua=1
12
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/351026/WeightBias.pdf?ua=1
 The results of this study show the way in which the obesity in not just a chronic
disease. The results show the fact that a person who is suffering of obesity is affected not
only in terms of health. He/she is affected by this disease at an emotional level, social level
and also cultural level. It affects the whole experience of the individual in the world.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Goffman E. Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. London: Penguin;
1963.
ONLINE RESOURCES
https://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/
https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/body-image-0
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/body-image-eating-disorders
https://www.prb.org/obesity-socioeconomic-status/
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
http://www.health.wa.gov.au/docreg/Education/Population/Health_Problems/
Mental_Illness/Mentalhealth_stigma_fact.pdf
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/351026/WeightBias.pdf?ua=1