The Obesity Epidemic

Increasing obesity levels are currently big news but do we think carefully enough about what this trend actually means? Everybody – including doctors, parents, teachers, sports clubs, businesses and governments – has a role to play in the ‘war on obesity’. But is talk of an obesity ‘crisis’ justified? Is it the product of measured scientific reasoning or age-old ‘habits of mind’? Why is it happening now? And are there potential risks associated with talking about obesity as an ‘epidemic’?   The Obesity Epidemic proposes that obesity science and the popular media present a complex mix of ambiguous knowledge, familiar (yet unstated) moral agendas and ideological assumptions.

The Obesity Epidemic: Science, Morality and Ideology

Politics & Social Sciences

Gard, Michael

Wright, Jan

Social Sciences

Routledge

Increasing obesity levels are currently big news but do we think carefully enough about what this trend actually means? Everybody – including doctors, parents, teachers, sports clubs, businesses and governments – has a role to play in the ‘war on obesity’. But is talk of an obesity ‘crisis’ justified? Is it the product of measured scientific reasoning or age-old ‘habits of mind’? Why is it happening now? And are there potential risks associated with talking about obesity as an ‘epidemic’? The Obesity Epidemic proposes that obesity science and the popular media present a complex mix of ambiguous knowledge, familiar (yet unstated) moral agendas and ideological assumptions.

Health, Fitness & Dieting

The End of the Obesity Epidemic

Despite apocalyptic predictions from a vocal alliance of health professionals, politicians and social commentators that rising obesity levels would lead to a global health crisis, the crisis has not materialised. In this provocative follow up to his classic work of obesity scepticism, The Obesity Epidemic, Michael Gard argues that we have entered into a new, and perhaps terminal, phase of the obesity debate. Evidence suggests that obesity rates are levelling off in Western societies, life expectancies continue to rise in line with rising obesity rates, and across the world policy-makers have remained largely indifferent and inactive in the face of this apparently deadly threat to our health and well-being. Dissecting and dismissing much of the over-blown rhetoric and ideological bias found on both sides of the obesity debate, Gard demonstrates that the science of obesity remains radically uncertain and that it is impossible to establish an objective ‘truth’ on which to base policy. His powerful and inescapable conclusion is that we should now mark the end of the obesity epidemic. Offering a road map through the maze of claims and counter-claims, while still holding to a sceptical standpoint, this book provides an unparalleled anatomy of obesity as a scientific, political and cultural issue. It is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the science or sociology of health and lifestyle.

Reference

Despite apocalyptic predictions from a vocal alliance of health professionals, politicians and social commentators that rising obesity levels would lead to a global health crisis, the crisis has not materialised. In this provocative follow up to his classic work of obesity scepticism, The Obesity Epidemic, Michael Gard argues that we have entered into a new, and perhaps terminal, phase of the obesity debate. Evidence suggests that obesity rates are levelling off in Western societies, life expectancies continue to rise in line with rising obesity rates, and across the world policy-makers have remained largely indifferent and inactive in the face of this apparently deadly threat to our health and well-being. Dissecting and dismissing much of the over-blown rhetoric and ideological bias found on both sides of the obesity debate, Gard demonstrates that the science of obesity remains radically uncertain and that it is impossible to establish an objective ‘truth’ on which to base policy. His powerful and inescapable conclusion is that we should now mark the end of the obesity epidemic. Offering a road map through the maze of claims and counter-claims, while still holding to a sceptical standpoint, this book provides an unparalleled anatomy of obesity as a scientific, political and cultural issue. It is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the science or sociology of health and lifestyle.

Why do men do ballet? What kinds of men become theatrical dancers? In this highly original piece of research, Michael Gard shows how the worlds of Western theatrical dance, gender relations and sexuality intermingle and, over time, produce different answers to these questions. Surveying both academic and popular writers, as well as drawing on life history interviews with twenty male dancers, Gard argues that the answers to these questions are inextricably linked to another question whose answer is never the same at any moment in history or any place in culture: What is a man?

Men Who Dance: Aesthetics, Athletics and the Art of Masculinity (Complicated Conversation)

Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gard, Michael. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gard, Michael

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gard, Michael. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Obesity Epidemic: Science, Morality and Ideology

The Obesity Epidemic

The End of the Obesity Epidemic

The End of the Obesity Epidemic

Men Who Dance: Aesthetics, Athletics and the Art of Masculinity (Complicated Conversation)

The Obesity Epidemic: Science, Morality and Ideology