Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970620234342.0069d4e8@osf1.gmu.edu>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 23:43:42 -0400
To: socgrad@csf.colorado.edu
From: "Jeanne A.B. Calabro" <jcalabro@osf1.gmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Obesity and Discrimination
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.3.91.970620081637.28848A-100000@abc.ksu.ksu.edu>
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Actually, I remember a study of obesity by an anthropologist entitled
"Obesity as a Culture-Bound Syndrome." It made many of the points that you
did. Also, an additional point is that obesity in men, with the exception
of extreme obesity, is not viewed as a "problem" in our culture, except in
the medical context.
	Also, let me make another point about your use of the word "link".
Unfortunately many clinical, statistical, and epidemiological studies do
not differentiate between link, association, and cause in their
explanations of the data.
	I remember a study that implicated exercise, or high level of physical
activity, as a cause for good health. This seemed to be "proven" by the
high association between low activity levels and illness or disability. Now
I ask you, does it stand to reason that people in wheelchairs are there
because they don't run marathons, or do they not run marathons because they
are in wheelchairs? Does it surprise you that jobs requiring a high level
of physical strength, skill and activity tend to attract fewer people who
suffer from chronic illness or who have physical disabilities? Do jobs
determine the health or illness of people who work in them, or is there
some kind of self-selection or other selection process going on here,
related to qualifying to be hired and do the job?
	The way this relates to obesity is because except for long-term cohort
studies that look at weight BEFORE any onset of cardiovascular or ulcer
symptoms, and then look at long term outcomes, it is not surprising to find
people with these diseases who are more overweight than non-affected
individuals who are able to be more active. I, for example, have both heart
and ulcer disease, and a systemic muscle disease. Yet I was not overweight
before these developed, but have gotten overweight since I was forced to
use a wheelchair and limit my activities, including avoiding exertion or
exercise.
	Recently, it has been proven that many cases of obesity are due to genetic
factors. Gene variations are usually not limited to one trait, but rather
tend to produce constellations of characteristics. Is it not possible that
the same gene variation that causes weight pattern also predisposes to
other conditions? It seems that all these medical "judgements" of obesity
that you refer to are nothing more than an attempt to place a moral
responsibility for disease on the obese, kind of a "blaming the victim."
Isn't it ironic that medicalization which was originally viewed as an
alternative to moral constructions has now become the vehicle for them? It
is only when the problem at issue is related to behavior, which a person
has a chance to change, can I accept this attitude on the part of
"caregivers." What is the behavior associated with obesity? It has already
been proven that the obese eat no more, and often less, than the non-obese
individual, in terms both of amount of food, calories, and amount of fat,
protein and carbohydrates in the diet. I think the medical attitude you are
speaking about is a sign of an outdated paradigm that is slow to change in
the medical profession.
Jeanne Calabro

At 08:35 AM 6/20/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Let me start off by saying that the purpose of this posting is not to 
>offend anyone, and I want to apologize in advance if it does. Please 
>understand, these are not my thoughts on obesity but what others have 
>said. I hope in no way to offend anyone.
>
>A new study just came out by researchers in Finland that said Obese women 
>are more discriminated in employment, less likely to be hired, less 
>likely to keep their jobs as long, and get paid less than  women who are 
>not overweight. In the United States, statistics show that more children 
>are obese than ever before.
>
>Obese people have been partly blamed for higher health insurance costs, 
>the argument being that because their heart is the same size as others' it 
>must work much harder, and studies have found a link between obesity and 
>discrimination, stress, chronic liver & kidney failure, pancreatic 
>failure, ulcers, heart attacks, cardiovascular problems etc. One female 
>medical doctor said to me "You never see many fat people in nursing homes 
>because they all die of a heart attack 20 or 30  years ahead of schedule."
>Also, she told me that "Obese people never seem to have an HDL 
>cholesterol level below the outer reaches of the atmosphere." Two 
>months ago a study suggested that obese women who are married are 
>happy, and those who are single tend to be depressed.
>
>In some cultures obesity is a symbol of health. My view is that part of the 
>problem in our (U.S.) culture is that women's magazines and TV often 
>depict women who are nothing but skin and bones, and this is why I feel 
>there are so many women with belemia and anorexia nervosa. U.S. Culture 
>tends to view obesity as the picture of poor health, indeed this view is 
>supported by the medical community. 
>
>Some have argued that because women have different metabolism, there are 
>more obese women than men. Is this true? Why do most studys about obesity 
>focus on women? Is it because more women are reportedly obese than men?
>
>Why have most of the studies in the News Media been done by scientists 
>other than sociologists? I would think that sociology is the most 
>appropriate discipline to study this problem.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>David Coon 
>http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~dcoon 
>MA Student & Graduate Teaching Asst.
>Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology, & Social Work  http://www.ksu.edu/sasw/
>Kansas State University
>
>
>
___________________________________________________________________
Jeanne A.B. Calabro		Home Phone:  703/450-5460
104 Norwood Place		E-mail:      jcalabro@osf1.gmu.edu
Sterling, Virginia 20164-8503	Affiliation: Brandeis University
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"Sociology changes the world." Personal opinion
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