Problematitzar el cos: repensar l'obesitat més enllà de la malaltia

Identifier:  TDX:2316

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX2316

Authors:  Maldonado Simó, María Luisa

Abstract:
This research aims to provide deeper insight into the reasons that have turned obesity into a problem, especially in developed societies, both from the perspective of healthcare systems and for policy-makers. The starting hypothesis proposes that this problem not only arose due to an increase in the prevalence of obesity, but that three other factors would play majors roles: medicalization, marketing and individualism. The implications of defining overweight and obesity as a pathology are explained and evidence is provided for the increasing availability of biomedical and aesthetic procedures meant to control or modify the body weight and thereby adapt it to the slimness ideal established in our culture. By analyzing this phenomenon from the perspective of medical anthropology it is possible to go beyond the individual features and physiology usually emphasiyed by biomedical sciences and reveal the broader context in which the concern for body weight and shape arises. The object of study could be insightfully evaluated thanks to the use of qualitative methodology. Bibliographic revision and documental analysis were performed in addition to empiric field work in Catalonia, based on interviews to several stakeholders who are part of the problem. Moreover, the advertising texts presented on the websites of private practices offering treatments to reduce corporal fat were analyzed. This investigation confirms that medicalization, marketing and individualism as present nowadays in developed societies converged to shape the definition of obesity. These three factors contributed to create a negative opinion of obesity and obese people, fueling the concern for body weight and a consumer behavior that pursues today’s ideal of slimness. The need to articulate and handle the problem in alternative ways is underlined. Cultural and contextual variables, the subjective perception of the illness and social relationships represent the multiple dimensions which need to be considered in a more complex manner.