 |
|
Cultural approach is key to tackling obesity
May 17, 2006New Haven, Conn. - Culture plays a significant role in how women perceive obesity in terms of both appearance and health, according to a study by Yale School of Nursing researchers in the Journal of Advanced Nursing.
Maryanne Davidson, Yale University School of Nursing, and Kathleen Knafl, Oregon Health and Sciences University, reviewed 20 papers published over 10 years on descriptions of the concept of obesity by health professionals, Black Americans, Latino Americans and Caucasian Americans. Davidson and Knafl found women in general base their ideal weight on cultural criteria.
"Black American study participants defined obesity in positive terms, relating it to attractiveness, sexual desirability, body image, strength or goodness, self esteem and social acceptability," said Davidson. "They didn't view obesity as cause for concern when it came to their health."
White women, on the other hand, defined obesity in negative terms, describing it as unattractive and socially undesirable and associated obesity with negative body image and decreased self-esteem. Davidson said some of these women saw weight as a health issue, while others did not.
"Key health issues related to obesity include diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, asthma and some cancers," Davidson said. "That's why it's imperative that researchers and healthcare providers understand how people from different cultures view obesity. This will help them to promote key messages about the health risks associated with excess weight in a culturally sensitive way."
Davidson also found variation in how health professionals define obesity.
Although most use the BMI to measure obesity, there were different views on what BMI constitutes normal weight or obesity.
"I'm glad to say there is a move towards standardized measurement of what is obese and what is overweight," Davidson said. "For example, the International Obesity Task Force is helping to address the need for a global objective measurement based on BMI."
Yale University
White women, on the other hand, defined obesity in negative terms, describing it as unattractive and socially undesirable and associated obesity with negative body image and decreased self-esteem. Davidson said some of these women saw weight as a health issue, while others did not.
"Key health issues related to obesity include diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, asthma and some cancers," Davidson said. "That's why it's imperative that researchers and healthcare providers understand how people from different cultures view obesity. This will help them to promote key messages about the health risks associated with excess weight in a culturally sensitive way."
Davidson also found variation in how health professionals define obesity.
Although most use the BMI to measure obesity, there were different views on what BMI constitutes normal weight or obesity.
"I'm glad to say there is a move towards standardized measurement of what is obese and what is overweight," Davidson said. "For example, the International Obesity Task Force is helping to address the need for a global objective measurement based on BMI."
Yale University
Obesity Current Events and Obesity News RSSPhysical education key to improving health in low-income adolescents
School-based physical education plays a key role in curbing obesity and improving fitness among adolescents from low-income communities, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley.
Energy gap useful tool for successful weight loss maintenance strategy
Americans continue to get heavier. Most weight control methods short of bariatric surgery are generally considered ineffective in preventing obesity or reducing weight.
TV bombards children with commercials for high-fat and high-sugar foods
Childhood obesity in the United States is reaching epidemic proportions. With more than one fourth of advertising on daytime and prime time television devoted to foods and beverages and continuing questions about the role television plays in obesity.
New scientific study indicates that eating quickly is associated with overeating
According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), eating a meal quickly, as compared to slowly, curtails the release of hormones in the gut that induce feelings of being full.
American Dietetic Association Releases Updated Position Paper Promoting and Supporting Breastfeeding
The American Dietetic Association has released an updated position paper on breastfeeding that details health benefits for both infants and mothers and encourages promotion of breastfeeding whenever possible.
Addressing obesity via the 'energy gap'
The November issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association features a commentary by James O. Hill, an honorary ADA member, professor of pediatrics and medicine and director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado-Denver.
MSU researcher: Obesity significantly cuts odds of successful pregnancy
Obese women are as much as 28 percent less likely to become pregnant and have a successful pregnancy, according to research that earned a Michigan State University professor a national award.
Study: Lap band surgery effective for morbidly obese children
A surgeon at Children's National Medical Center and his colleagues from New York University have found laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (Lap band) to improve the health of morbidly obese adolescents.
Gastroenterology/hepatology societies release report evaluating fellowship training curriculum
Due to the increasing complexities of treating digestive diseases, allowing gastroenterological (GI) trainee physicians the opportunity to develop enhanced abilities and experiences in specific disease areas or procedures will be a great benefit to patients, according to a "Report of the Multisociety Task Force on GI Training."
Study finds link between childhood physical abuse and arthritis
Adults who had experienced physical abuse as children have 56 per cent higher odds of osteoarthritis compared to those who have not been abused, according to a new study by University of Toronto researchers.
More Obesity Current Events and Obesity News Articles
 |
Fat - What No One Is Telling You Starring: Mary Dimino, Meredith Vieira, Brian Wansink, America Bracho, Rosie Dehli Directed By: Andrew Fredericks Also With: Mary Dimino (Writer), Deidre Sheehan (Producer), Felice Firestone (Producer), Jessica Bari (Producer), Linda Spain (Producer), Naomi S. Boak (Producer), Robert B. Sturm (Producer), Ted Hinck (Producer), Tom Keleher (Producer), Tom Spain (Producer), Tom Spain (Writer) |
 |
Fat Politics: The Real Story behind America's Obesity Epidemic by J. Eric Oliver (Author) It seems almost daily we read newspaper articles and watch news reports exposing the growing epidemic of obesity in America. Our government tells us we are experiencing a major health crisis, with sixty percent of Americans classified as overweight, and one in four as obese. But how valid are these claims? In Fat Politics, J. Eric Oliver shows how a handful of doctors, government bureaucrats, and health researchers, with financial backing from the drug and weight-loss industries, have campaigned to create standards that mislead the public. They mislabel more than sixty million Americans as "overweight," inflate the health risks of being fat, and promote the idea that obesity is a killer disease. In reviewing the scientific evidence, Oliver shows there is little proof that obesity... |
 |
Killer at Large Starring: Bill Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Pollan, Mike Huckabee, Tom Harkin Directed By: Steven Greenstreet Obesity rates in the United States have skyrocketed over the last twenty years, with no end in sight provoking former Surgeon General, Richard Carmona to state that "obesity is a terror within. It is destroying our society from within and unless we do something about it, the magnitude of the dilemma will dwarf 9/11 or any other terrorist event that you can point out..." As this epidemic of obesity reaches out into even the most remote corners of the globe, only one thing seems clear, the issue is more complex than you could ever imagine. Seeking to trace the problem to it's root, we find ourselves in the African Savannah 4 million years ago where we discover how our hunter gatherer ancestry, when mixed in with our modern environment of convenience, stress and abundance has... |
 |
The Obesity Epidemic: Science, Morality and Ideology by Michael Gard (Author) The Obesity Epidemic adds a much-needed voice of skepticism to the increasingly alarmist debate about weight and health. Gard and Wright show that "obesity" is above all a deeply problematic cultural and political concept, making clear that the social meaning of fat is determined largely by moral and ideological agendas -- agendas that are all the more powerful because they cloak themselves in the mantle of objective science and public health. Indeed, this book demonstrates how and why concepts such as "science" and "health" are themselves far more problematic than those who invoke them like to admit. THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC is a superb contribution to the sociology of knowledge, and an essential text for anyone who wants to understand the current moral panic over fat. |
 |
Weighty Matters by Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, MD A weekdaily romp through the aisles of Big Food, nutrition, advertising, weight and health. No holds barred, spattered with mirth and always interesting.(Voted #1 Health Blog in Canada by the Canadian Blog Awards.)Kindle blogs are fully downloaded onto your Kindle so you can read them even when you're not wirelessly connected. And unlike RSS readers which often only provide headlines, blogs on Kindle give you full text content and images, and are updated wirelessly throughout the day. |
 |
Overcoming Obesity Part of the award winning public television series Healthy Body/Healthy Mind. Approximately 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, 60 million obese, and 9 million severely obese. Obesity is a complex, multi-factorial chronic disease involving environmental (social and cultural), genetic, physiologic, metabolic, behavioral and psychological components. It is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. In this episode we define people at risk and detail some of the Nutritional solutions to help people stay healthy. |
 |
Handbook of Obesity Treatment by Thomas A. Wadden PhD (Editor), Albert J. Stunkard MD (Editor) The contemporary successor to the editors' earlier Obesity: Theory and Therapy, this comprehensive handbook guides mental health, medical, and allied health professionals through the process of planning and delivering individualized treatment services for those seeking help for obesity. Concise, extensively referenced chapters present foundational knowledge and review the full range of widely used interventions, including self-help, behavioral, and cognitive-behavioral approaches; pharmacotherapy; and surgery. Provided are state-of-the-art guidelines for assessing obese individuals for health risks and for mood and eating disorders; treatment algorithms for tailoring interventions to the severity of the client's problem; details on adjunctive interventions for improving body image and... |
 |
The Evolution of Obesity by Michael L. Power (Author), Jay Schulkin (Author) In this sweeping exploration of the relatively recent obesity epidemic, Michael L. Power and Jay Schulkin probe evolutionary biology, history, physiology, and medical science to uncover the causes of our growing girth. The unexpected answer? Our own evolutionary success. For most of the past few million years, our evolutionary ancestors' survival depended on being able to consume as much as possible when food was available and to store the excess energy for periods when it was scarce. In the developed world today, high-calorie foods are readily obtainable, yet the propensity to store fat is part of our species' heritage, leaving an increasing number of the world's people vulnerable to obesity. In an environment of abundant food, we are anatomically, physiologically,... |
 |
Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Obesity: A Clinician's Guide by Zafra Cooper DPhil DipPsych (Author), Dr. Christopher G. Fairburn DM FMedSci FRCPsych (Author), Deborah M. Hawker PhD DClinPsy (Author) The first cognitive-behavioral treatment manual for obesity, this volume presents an innovative therapeutic model currently being evaluated in controlled research at Oxford University. From leading clinical researchers, the approach is specifically designed to overcome a major weakness of existing therapies: posttreatment weight regain. The book details powerful ways to help patients not only to achieve weight loss, but also to modify the problematic cognitions that undermine long-term weight control. Drawing on strategies proven effective with such problems as binge eating, the manual contains everything needed to implement the treatment: intervention guidelines, case examples, and reproducible handouts and forms. |
 |
Ms. Fatty by Ms. Fatty A big fat politically incorrect and totally irreverent weight loss blog.Kindle blogs are fully downloaded onto your Kindle so you can read them even when you're not wirelessly connected. And unlike RSS readers which often only provide headlines, blogs on Kindle give you full text content and images, and are updated wirelessly throughout the day. |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |