Argues that the skyrocketing increase in obesity levels is not caused by individuals' moral weakness, but is due to modern society lacking the virtues necessary for people to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors. In a fresh and highly original approach, the book proceeds to identify a set of seven social and environmental 'sins' that characterize our contemporary world, and then describes how each impacts on the level of obesity.
These essays examine the seven deadly sins as cultural constructions in the Middle Ages and beyond, focusing on the way concepts of the sins are used in medieval communities, the institution of the Church, and by secular artists and authors.
In America, notes acclaimed novelist Francine Prose, we are obsessed with food and diet. And what is this obsession with food except a struggle between sin and virtue, overeating and self-control--a struggle with the fierce temptations of gluttony. In Gluttony, Francine Prose serves up a marvelous banquet of witty and engaging observations on this most delicious of deadly sins. She traces how our notions of gluttony have evolved along with our ideas about salvation and damnation, health and illness, life and death. Offering a lively smorgasbord that ranges from Augustine's Confessions and Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale, to Petronius's Satyricon and Dante's Inferno, she shows that gluttony was in medieval times a deeply spiritual matter, but today we have transformed gluttony from a sin into an illness--it is the horrors of cholesterol and the perils of red meat that we demonize. Indeed, the modern take on gluttony is that we overeat out of compulsion, self-destructiveness, or to avoid intimacy and social contact. But gluttony, Prose reminds us, is also an affirmation of pleasure and of passion. She ends the book with a discussion of M.F.K. Fisher's idiosyncratic defense of one of the great heroes of gluttony, Diamond Jim Brady, whose stomach was six times normal size. "The broad, shiny face of the glutton," Prose writes, "has been--and continues to be--the mirror in which we see ourselves, our hopes and fears, our darkest dreams and deepest desires." Never have we delved more deeply into this mirror than in this insightful and stimulating book.
This book sheds new light on the political battle to define and construct obesity as a policy issue. Through a rich analysis of the debates in Australia and the UK, it develops a nuanced analysis of the competing narratives that actors rely on to make sense of and argue about this issue, and documents how and to what effect they draw on scientific evidence to support their accounts. The real 'war on obesity', it demonstrates, has always been over the meaning and nature of this public health crisis. This insightful work will interest scholars of interpretive policy studies, critical public health and science and technology studies.
The fifth edition of Volume 1 of Handbook of Obesity written by global experts covers the basic science aspects under the broad topic areas of epidemiology, etiology, and pathophysiology of obesity. Divided into 5 sections and detailed in 66 chapters, this edition covers the important advances occurring over the past decades. With a focus on science of obesity and factors participating in the etiology of obesity, this topic is studied from biological, behavioural, and environmental perspectives. Volume 1 is structured into 5 parts: Part 1 focuses on the history, definitions, and prevalence of the obesity. It identifies the historical references to excess weight, obesity in art and literature, direct and surrogate measurements of adiposity and obesity related traits, epidemiology of obesity around the globe, and age, sex, and ethnic variation completes this part of the volume. Part 2 explains the biological determinants of obesity. It explains the bioenergetics, energy dissipation mechanisms and exposure to experimental overfeeding, genetic and epigenetic evidence, metabolic rates, energy expenditure and energy partitioning, and the evidence on infections and adiposity. Part 3 describes the behavioral determinants of obesity. It deals with chapters related to food, beverages, and ingestive behavior, dealing with smoking, breast-feeding, and sleep duration and pattern, and sedentary behavior, occupational work, and leisure-time physical activity and obesity. Part 4 comprises of chapters explaining the environmental, social, and cultural determinants of obesity. The chapters in this section focus on the role of agriculture and the food industry in the current obesity epidemic, social and economic aspects of obesity, and ethnic and cultural differences, and environmental pollutants. Part 5 of this volume discusses the health consequences of obesity. The chapters address important topics such obesity and heart disease, lipoprotein metabolism, insulin resistance and diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer, hepatic biology, pulmonary functions, and arthritis and gout, mental health and quality of life, growth and health disorders in pediatric populations, and on bias and discrimination affecting the obese persons.
This book considers how scientists, theologians, priests, and poets approached the relationship of the human body and ethics in the later Middle Ages. Is medicine merely a metaphor for sin? Or can certain kinds of bodies physiologically dispose people to be angry, sad, or greedy? If so, then is it their fault? Virginia Langum offers an account of the medical imagery used to describe feelings and actions in religious and literary contexts, referencing a variety of behavioral discussions within medical contexts. The study draws upon medical and theological writing for its philosophical basis, and upon more popular works of religion, as well as poetry, to show how these themes were articulated, explored, and questioned more widely in medieval culture.
This 2 volume set comprises of the 4th edition of Volume 1 and the 5th edition of Volume 2. The fifth edition of Volume 1 of Handbook of Obesity written by global experts covers the basic science aspects under the broad topic areas of epidemiology, etiology, and pathophysiology of obesity. Divided into 5 sections and detailed in 66 chapters, this edition covers the important advances occurring over the past decades. With a focus on science of obesity and factors participating in the etiology of obesity, this topic is studied from biological, behavioural and environmental perspectives. Volume 1 is structured into 5 parts: Part 1 focuses on the history, definitions, and prevalence of the obesity. It identifies the historical references to excess weight, obesity in art and literature, direct and surrogate measurements of adiposity and obesity related traits, epidemiology of obesity around the globe, and age, sex and ethnic variation completes this part of the volume. Part 2 explains the biological determinants of obesity. It explains the bioenergetics, energy dissipation mechanisms and exposure to experimental overfeeding, genetic and epigenetic evidence, metabolic rates, energy expenditure and energy partitioning, and the evidence on infections and adiposity. Part 3 describes the behavioral determinants of obesity. It deals with chapters related to food, beverages, and ingestive behavior, dealing with smoking, breast-feeding, and sleep duration and pattern, and sedentary behavior, occupational work, and leisure-time physical activity and obesity. Part 4 comprises of chapters explaining the environmental, social, and cultural determinants of obesity. The chapters in this section focus on the role of agriculture and the food industry in the current obesity epidemic, social and economic aspects of obesity, and ethnic and cultural differences and environmental pollutants. Part 5 of this volume discusses the health consequences of obesity. The chapters address important topics such obesity and heart disease, lipoprotein metabolism, insulin resistance and diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer, hepatic biology, pulmonary functions, and arthritis and gout, mental health and quality of life, growth and health disorders in pediatric populations, and on bias and discrimination affecting the obese persons. Volume 2 of the 5th Edition of the Handbook of Obesity spotlights on clinical applications for evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of obesity. It covers on the several major developments occurred between the previous and the new edition, including the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on people with obesity, the concept of "Precision Medicine", and new medications approved by USFDA aiding patients with obesity weight loss of 15 to 20%. This volume is structured into 5 parts: Part 1 provides insights from evolution on changes in diet and physical activity, and the implications and results for preventing obesity, health care costs associated with obesity and the cost-effectiveness of obesity prevention and treatment. Part 2 deals with evaluation of overweight patients, approaches for classifying obesity and using this knowledge to evaluate patients, and addressing ethnic and racial considerations in evaluating patients with obesity. Part 3 explains the impact of lifestyle in managing obesity, which include behavioural management, diet, dietary composition, and meal timing, and the effects of physical activity and exercise in weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Part 4 is focused on medications in the management of obesity. This includes drug selection, various classes of drugs, combination of drugs affecting weight loss, effect of herbal agents on weight loss and treatment of obesity in pediatric populations, genetic diseases causing obesity and the role of drugs in treating the dyslipidemias. Part 5 discusses bariatric surgery, its history, procedure and effects in details, and other surgical techniques including electric stimulation of the vagus nerve, gastric balloons, intestinal liners and liposuction.
According to the World Health Organization we are in the midst of a global obesity crisis. Is obesity a disease itself or a symptom of underlying physiological or psychological illnesses? Is it a sign of social excess and therefore not a disease in the medical sense at all? Is it really 'new'? Sander L. Gilman, a leading authority in the social and cultural history of the body, presents a fascinating account of the history of obesity, looking at the changing attitudes towards the body, from regarding it as 'God's temple' to more mechanical and practical concerns from the Enlightenment onwards. In the eighteenth century obesity was understood as a problem of the affluent; today the affluent are more likely to have a personal trainer and a healthier diet, and it is the poorer classes who are more likely to be overweight. Gilman considers obesity in many contexts - including a chapter on obesity in China and the impact of modernization and Westernization on this very different culture. Taking the issue up to the present day, Gilman examines the wider political and social implications obesity raises, considering whether obesity should be cured by diet or surgery, by psychotherapy or economic improvement, by healthier food choices or by social relocation.
Are you tired of being stigmatized for your weight? Do you feel like the world is against you in your struggle with obesity? Are you ready to challenge the societal norms and redefine what it means to be healthy? Then this book is for you. - Discover the origins of fat phobia and how it has shaped our society. - Understand the science behind obesity, including genetic and environmental factors. - Examine the role of media and society in perpetuating the stigma around obesity. - Explore the real health implications of obesity, without the moral panic. - Dive into the psychological impact of fat phobia on individuals and society. - Uncover the truth about the weight loss industry and its profiteering. - Learn about the influence of feminism on body image and its implications. - Stand up against obesity-based discrimination and its legal ramifications. - Evaluate the government's role in addressing obesity and its policies. - Discover the fat acceptance movement and its fight for body positivity. - Explore the pressure and expectations on men's self-perception and body image. If you want to redefine health, body image, and masculinity in a world obsessed with body image, then buy this book today.
An overview written for general readers of the history, prevention, treatment, causes, and consequences of obesity. What makes obesity a disease instead of just a matter of overeating? What are the genetic and environmental factors behind it? What new breakthroughs are being developing to combat it? This concise, information-rich volume looks at these and other important questions, clearing away misconceptions about this devastating condition. Obesity explains what scientists now know about the causes and consequences of being overweight, including the latest on the links between obesity and heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, asthma, and sleep difficulties. The book pays specific attention to the problem among obese young people, who more and more are being diagnosed with chronic illnesses that used to only be seen in adults. It also reports on promising efforts to battle obesity, from medical treatments to community awareness programs.
