Healthy, but Obese: The Importance of Context in the Health-Obesity Relationship

• In Event: 182 - Regular Session. Health and Well-being: Contextual Effects

Abstract

In recent years, concern has grown over the so-called “obesity epidemic;” a dramatic increase in rates of obesity and associated health problems that has received considerable attention from the media, lawmakers, and researchers. Yet, the risk of mortality associated with obesity is inconsistent across studies. I contend that the traditional medical paradigm for understanding the relationship between health and obesity ignores that certain social costs of obesity (namely, stigma) may have distinct health consequences as severe as or worse than those arising from adiposity, alone, and propose an alternative social paradigm that may help explain these inconsistencies. Social costs of obesity are identified using a multilevel analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, providing strong evidence in support of a social paradigm for understanding the link between obesity and health. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Author

• Philip Matthew Pendergast, University of Colorado-Boulder