Canadian Senate Report on Obesity: Focusing on Individual Behaviours versus Social Determinants of Health May Promote Weight Stigma
| dc.contributor.author | Alberga, Angela S. | |
| dc.contributor.author | McLaren, Lindsay | |
| dc.contributor.author | Russell-Mayhew, Shelly | |
| dc.contributor.author | von Ranson, Kristin M. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-09-27T11:14:11Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-09-27T11:14:11Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2018-07-02 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2018-09-27T11:14:11Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Very little attention has been given to unintended consequences of government reporting on obesity. This paper argues that the 2016 Senate report, “Obesity in Canada: A Whole-Of-Society Approach,” exemplifies the systemic public health issue of weight stigma. The purpose of this viewpoint is to critique the approach taken in the Report, by illustrating that it (1) takes a weight-centric approach to health, (2) does not acknowledge important limitations of the definition and measurement of obesity, (3) reifies obesity as a categorical phenomenon that must be prevented, and (4) uses aggressive framing and disrespectful terminology. The Report perpetuates a focus on the individual, thereby failing to recognize the role that governments can play in reducing weight stigma and addressing social determinants of health. If steps are taken to avoid propagating weight stigma, future reports could more constructively address health promotion, equity, and social determinants of health in their policies. | |
| dc.description.version | Peer Reviewed | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Angela S. Alberga, Lindsay McLaren, Shelly Russell-Mayhew, and Kristin M. von Ranson, “Canadian Senate Report on Obesity: Focusing on Individual Behaviours versus Social Determinants of Health May Promote Weight Stigma,” Journal of Obesity, vol. 2018, Article ID 8645694, 7 pages, 2018. doi:10.1155/2018/8645694 | |
| dc.identifier.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/33002 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/8645694 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1880/108066 | |
| dc.language.rfc3066 | en | |
| dc.rights.holder | Copyright © 2018 Angela S. Alberga et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. | |
| dc.title | Canadian Senate Report on Obesity: Focusing on Individual Behaviours versus Social Determinants of Health May Promote Weight Stigma | |
| dc.type | Journal Article |