Understanding Obesity

This accessible book unpacks the complexity of obesity, body weight and fatness and what can be done about it.

Stanley Ulijaszek (Author)

9781009218214, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 25 January 2024

196 pages
17.8 x 12.7 x 1.1 cm, 0.2 kg

'Understanding Obesity reflects on all aspects of obesity, from the more individual to the more societal: genetics, epigenetics, metabolism, stigma, the food environment, food companies, health inequalities and insecurity … Written in a clear and engaging style, it provides an account of the complexity of obesity, calling for multifaceted, carefully considered responses, and inviting us - ultimately - to be more compassionate human beings towards one another. This book could only have been written by someone such as Stanley Ulijaszek who has immense interdisciplinary expertise, an inquisitive mind and a genuine worldwide view. A small but mighty book!' Amandine Garde, Professor of Law, University of Liverpool

Most people have some dissatisfaction or concern about body weight, fatness, or obesity, either personally or professionally. This book shows how the popular understanding of obesity is often at odds with scientific understandings, and how misunderstandings about people with obesity can further contribute to the problem. It describes, in an approachable way, interconnected debates about obesity in public policy, medicine and public health, and how media and social media engage people in everyday life in those debates. In chapters considering body fat and fatness, genetics, metabolism, food and eating, inequality, blame and stigma, and physical activity, this book brings separate domains of obesity research into the field of complexity. By doing so, it aids navigation through the minefield of misunderstandings about body weight, fatness, and obesity that exist today, after decades of mostly failed policies and interventions.

1. I'm too fat
2. It's my genes
3. It's my metabolism
4. I blame the food corporations
5. I blame society
6. You've only got yourself to blame
7. You eat too much
8. You don't get out enough
9. Understanding the imperfect storm
Summary of common misunderstandings
References
Figure credits
Index.

Subject Areas: Epidemiology & medical statistics [MBNS]