Illuminating the ethical tensions in the obesity Canada website: a transdisciplinary social justice perspective

ABSTRACT

Even though considerable resources have been allocated to the study of obesity, there is no consensus on its definition, causes, or solutions. Amidst ongoing debates over understandings of obesity, Obesity Canada (OC) was established to enhance the quality of life of Canadians with obesity through the advancement of anti-discrimination, policy change, and obesity prevention and treatment. Drawing upon a transdisciplinary social justice framework, we use critical thematic analysis to examine the OC website, which is the organization’s primary knowledge mobilization platform. We will address the following research question: To what extent does OC serve social justice goals that promote the best interests of larger people? We argue that the social justice potential of OC ultimately falls short and conclude with some recommendations on how the site content could be enhanced with social justice principles.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical thematic analysis
• critical realism
• obesity
• Obesity Canada
• social justice
• weight discrimination

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The Body Mass Index is a measurement used to assess body fat based on height and weight.

2 see Lupton 2013; Patterson and Johnston 2012, for a review of obesity models

3 See Lau and Morgan 2014, for an overview of the spectrum of constructionism

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Deana Kanagasingam

Deana Kanagasingam is a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia (School of Kinesiology). Her PhD research presents an alternative to the dominant paradigm of obesity treatment and examines how social justice is understood, enacted, and experienced in clinical interventions related to weight from the perspectives of both practitioners and patients.

Moss Norman

Moss Norman is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia (School of Kinesiology) and holds a PhD in Exercise Sciences. He uses a socio-cultural approach in the study of youth, gender (masculinity, in particular), health, and physical culture. He has done extensive research using critical and feminist theories to examine how differently situated people take up and experience health messaging related to body weight, shape and size within the context of the ‘obesity epidemic’. Recently, his research has shifted into the area of Indigenous masculinities. With this line of inquiry Moss is learning about Indigenous worldviews and he is increasingly incorporating Indigenous methodologies into his research. He also maintains secondary but active research interests in rurality and recreation. Moss is currently the principal investigator on a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) funded project that uses a community-based research design to explore Indigenous masculinities and physical cultures in Fisher River Cree Nation (Manitoba).

Laura Hurd

Laura Hurd is a Professor at the University of British Columbia (School of Kinesiology) and holds a PhD in Sociology. Her research, which has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), examines how older adults’ perceptions and experiences of their aging bodies are influenced by age, gender, and health norms. In particular, her work has considered the impact of ageism, ableism, gender ideals, healthism, heterosexism, and social class on older women’s beauty and weight management practices, older men’s engagement in physical activity, older adults’ perceptions of and responses to masculinity and femininity ideals, the self-care and health promotion practices of older adults, older adults’ use of technologies such as power wheelchairs and scooters, sexuality and body image in later life, and media representations of aging.