The Dominant Obesity Discourse Versus Children’s Conceptualizations of Health: A Comparison Through Dialogue and Drawings

Abstract

The emphasis on childhood obesity reduction has been attributed to the dominant obesity discourse. However, some researchers argue that this discourse may be ineffective and even harmful for children. From a post-structuralist perspective, the dominant obesity discourse has the power to shape children’s subjectivities, though subjectivities may also be influenced by personal experiences and other knowledge about bodies and health. There is limited research which explores how children’s conceptualizations of health are informed by the dominant obesity discourse. To address this knowledge gap, qualitative data were collected from 8- to 11-year-old children (n = 29) regarding their conceptualizations of health, healthy bodies, and health practices. Results suggest that children’s conceptualizations reflected arguments embedded within the dominant obesity discourse, but at times, also contradicted or deviated from it. Study findings can be applied toward children’s health promotion programming to offer a more holistic and inclusive perspective on health and well-being.

Keywords

dominant obesity discourse post-structuralism children’s health promotion qualitative methods mid-Atlantic region

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Atencio

(2010). The life activity project in the American inner city: Multi-ethnic young people’s engagements with health discourses. In Wright

Macdonald

(Eds.), Young people, physical activity and the everyday: Living physical activity (pp. 150–161). London: Routledge.

Bacon

Aphramor

(2011). Weight science: Evaluating the evidence for a paradigm shift. Nutrition Journal, 10, 1–1. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-10-9

Berk

L. E.

(2003). Child development (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.

Burrows

Wright

Jungersen-Smith

(2002). “Measure Your Belly.” New Zealand children’s constructions of health and fitness. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 22, 39–48. doi: 10.1123/jtpe.22.1.39

Collins

W. A.

(Ed.). (1984). Development during middle childhood: The years from six to twelve. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Creswell

J. W.

(2007). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Drew

S. E.

Duncan

R. E.

Sawyer

S. M.

(2010). Visual storytelling: A beneficial but challenging method for health research with young people. Qualitative Health Research, 20, 1677–1688. doi:10.1177/1049732310377455

Einarsdottir

Dockett

Perry

(2009). Making meaning: Children’s perspectives expressed through drawings. Early Child Development and Care, 179, 217–232. doi:10.1080/03004430802666999

Evans

Rich

(2011). Body policies and body pedagogies: Every child matters in totally pedagogised schools? Journal of Education Policy, 26, 361–379. doi:10.1080/02680939.2010.500399

10.

Foucault

(1990). The history of sexuality. Volume 1: An introduction. New York: Vintage Books.

11.

Foucault

(2003). Governmentality. In Rabinow

Rose

(Eds.), The essential Foucault: Selections from essential works of Foucault, 1954–1984 (pp. 229–245). New York: The New Press.

12.

González-Rivera

Bauermeister

J. A.

(2007). Children’s attitudes toward people with AIDS in Puerto Rico: Exploring stigma through drawings and stories. Qualitative Health Research, 17, 250–263. doi:10.1177/1049732306297758

13.

Greenhalgh

Carney

(2014). Bad biocitizens? Latinos and the US “obesity epidemic.” Human Organization, 73, 267–276. doi:10.17730/humo.73.3.w53hh1t413038240

14.

Gregg

O’Hara

(2007). The red lotus health promotion model: A new model for holistic, ecological, salutogenic health promotion practice. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 18, 12–19. doi:10.1071/HE07012

15.

Irwin

L. G.

Johnson

(2005). Interviewing young children: Explicating our practices and dilemmas. Qualitative Health Research, 15, 821–831. doi:10.1177/1049732304273862

16.

Jette

Bhagat

Andrews

D. L.

(2016). Governing the child-citizen: “Let’s Move!” as national biopedagogy. Sport, Education and Society, 21, 1109–1126. doi:10.1080/13573322.2014.993961

17.

Karnieli-Miller

Strier

Pessach

(2009). Power relations in qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research, 19, 279–289. doi:10.1177/1049732308329306

18.

MacNeill

Rail

(2010). The visions, voices and moves of young “Canadians”: Exploring diversity, subjectivity and cultural constructions of fitness and health. In Wright

Macdonald

(Eds.), Young people, physical activity and the everyday: Living physical activity (pp. 175–193). London: Routledge.

19.

Mahmood

Chaudhury

Michael

Y. L.

Campo

Hay

Sarte

(2012). A photovoice documentation of the role of neighborhood physical and social environments in older adults’ physical activity in two metropolitan areas in North America. Social Science & Medicine, 74, 1180–1192. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.12.039

20.

McDevitt

T. M.

Ormrod

J. E.

(2002). Child development and education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.

21.

Moffat

(2010). The “childhood obesity epidemic”: Health crisis or social construction? Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 24, 1–21. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1387.2010.01082.x

22.

Neergaard

M. A.

Olesen

Andersen

R. S.

Sondergaard

(2009). Qualitative description–the poor cousin of health research? BMC Medical Research Methodology, 9, Article 52. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-9-52

23.

Nichter

(2009). Fat talk: What girls and their parents say about dieting. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

24.

Rail

(2002). Postmodernism and sport studies. In Maguire

Young

(Eds.), Theory, sport, & society (pp. 179–207). London: Elsevier Press.

25.

Rail

(2009). Canadian youth’s discursive constructions of health in the context of obesity discourse. In Wright

Harwood

(Eds.), Biopolitics and the “obesity epidemic”: Governing bodies (pp. 141–156). New York: Routledge.

26.

Rich

(2010). Obesity assemblages and surveillance in schools. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 23, 803–821. doi:10.1080/09518398.2010.529474

27.

Rich

(2011a). Exploring the relationship between pedagogy and physical cultural studies: The case of new health imperatives in schools. Sociology of Sport Journal, 28, 64–84. doi:10.1123/ssj.28.1.64

28.

Rich

(2011b). “I see her being obesed!”: Public pedagogy, reality media and the obesity crisis. Health, 15, 3–21. doi:10.1177/1363459309358127

29.

Robison

Carrier

(2004). The spirit and science of holistic health. Bloomington, IN: Author House.

30.

Saguy

A. C.

Almeling

(2008). Fat in the fire? Science, the news media, and the “obesity epidemic.” Sociological Forum, 23, 53–83. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0838.2004.00399.x-i1

31.

Saguy

A. C.

Riley

K. W.

(2005). Weighing both sides: Morality, mortality, and framing contests over obesity. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 30, 869–923. doi:10.1215/03616878-30-5-869

32.

Salkind

N. J.

(2004). In introduction to theories of human development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

33.

Scales

P. C.

Sesma

Bolstrom

(2004). Coming into their own: How developmental assets promote positive growth in middle childhood. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.

34.

Schwartz

M. W.

(2012). An inconvenient truth about obesity. Molecular Metabolism, 1, 2–4. doi:10.1016/j.molmet.2012.07.005

35.

Shavers

V. L.

(2007). Measurement of socioeconomic status in health disparities research. Journal of the National Medical Association, 99, 1013–1023. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2575866/

36.

Shelley

O’Hara

Gregg

(2010). The impact on teachers of designing and implementing a Health at Every Size curriculum unit. Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, 1, 21–28. doi:10.1080/18377122.2010.9730334

37.

Silventoinen

Rokholm

Kaprio

Sørensen

T. I. A.

(2010). The genetic and environmental influences on childhood obesity: A systematic review of twin and adoption studies. International Journal of Obesity, 34, 29–40. doi:10.1038/ijo.2009.177

38.

Stirling

Yamada-Rice

(Eds.). (2015). Visual methods with children and young people: Academics and visual industries in dialogue. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

39.

Sumithran

Prendergast

L. A.

Delbridge

Purcell

Shulkes

Kriketos

Proietto

(2011). Long-term persistence of hormonal adaptations to weight loss. New England Journal of Medicine, 365, 1597–1604. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1105816

40.

Tylka

T. L.

Annunziato

R. A.

Burgard

Daníelsdóttir

Shuman

Davis

Calogero

R. M.

(2014). The weight-inclusive versus weight-normative approach to health: Evaluating the evidence for prioritizing well-being over weight loss. Journal of Obesity, 2014, 1–18. doi:10.1155/2014/983495

41.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014). Early and middle childhood. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/early-and-middle-childhood#one

42.

Weedon

(1997). Feminist practice and poststructuralist theory. London: Blackwell.

43.

Whittemore

Chase

S. K.

Mandle

C. L.

(2001). Validity in qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research, 11, 522–537. doi:10.1177/104973201129119299

44.

Wright

(2001). Gender reform in physical education: A poststructuralist perspective. Journal of Physical Education New Zealand, 34, 15–25.

45.

Wright

(2009). Biopower, biopedagogies and the obesity epidemic. In Wright

Harwood

(Eds.), Biopoltics and the “obesity epidemic”: Governing Bodies (pp. 1–14). New York: Routledge.

46.

Wright

O’Flynn

Macdonald

(2006). Being fit and looking healthy: Young women’s and men’s constructions of health and fitness. Sex Roles, 54, 707–716. doi:10.1007/s11199-006-9036-9