“Health Class Gave You an Eating Disorder?” The Thin/Fat Dualism and American Health Curricula

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Abstract

Despite both eating disorder and obesity rates among adolescents increasing steadily over the past 30 years, American health curricula tend to prioritize obesity prevention above eating disorder prevention (Tingle et al. 2023; Dixey 1998; Timko 2019). Is this representative of a cultural fear of fatness and a valorization of thinness? My paper seeks to understand why this prioritization of American health crises has become the norm in the American health class and what it means for the well-being of American students. Through qualitative investigation, my paper tracks and assesses the tolerance and promotion of the thin/fat dualism in American health education.

Author

• Sage Katriel Gladstone, Grinnell College