through Sociology
Dr Abir Youssef
Understanding Obesity
through Sociology
Introduction
World Health Organization (WHO)
definitions for obesity
Causes of obesity
Socio-economic Environmental
Explanation
Cultural – behavioral Explanation
Ethnicity and Obesity
Tackling Obesity
Conclusions
Introduction
health behaviour
life-style
Lack of public information
Food manufacturers
display macronutrients in
grams, when the correct
way would be to express
their contribution in energy.
Lack of public information
Subsidies of agricultural
products play an important
part, as children as well as
adults, are influenced by cheap
prices.
Ethnicity and Obesity
Psychosocial factors associated
with the incidence of obesity in
ethnic minorities include
inadequate social support
cultural barriers to
communication
racism and discrimination
language difficulties to
understand the health promotion
message.
Tackling Obesity on
different levels
individuals
community
local government
national levels
Tackling Obesity
Society-wide Approach
The WHO’s 1997 interim report argues
that it is not enough to tackle obesity
at individual level and that a society-
wide public health approach needs to
be employed.
Medical profession
Government should work with the
food industry to promote a healthier
diet for everyone from childhood to
adult life.
Management of obesity in Primary
Care by a motivated well-informed
multi-disciplinary team could achieve
and maintain weight loss by
promoting sustainable changes in
lifestyle.
Tackling Obesity
The government should work to
reduce health inequality and
improve the environment factor.
Individual parents of
overweight children should be
helped to take responsibility
and encourage healthy eating
and physical activity.
Conclusions