Obesity Epidemic

<p>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’? </p><p><em>The Obesity Epidemic</em> proposes that obesity science and the popular media present a complex mix of ambiguous knowledge familiar (yet unstated) moral agendas and ideological assumptions. </p>