Apocalyptic public health: exploring discourses of fatness in childhood ‘obesity’ policy

ABSTRACT

Recent ‘obesity’ preventions focus heavily on children, widely regarded as the future of society. The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) is a flagship government programme in England that annually measures the Body Mass Index (BMI) of children in Reception (aged 4–5) and Year 6 (aged 10–11) in order to identify ‘at risk’ children and offer advice to parents. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis this study explores how discourses within the programme construct fatness. The NCMP materials contain three key interrelated themes (concerning the hidden threat of ‘obesity’, the burden of ‘obesity’, and bodies that pose a greater risk) that combine to construct a ‘grotesque discourse’ of apocalyptic public health. ‘Obesity’ is constructed as a social and economic catastrophe where certain bodies pose a greater threat than others. We argue that this discourse has the potential to change health service policy in markedly regressive ways that will disproportionately impact working-class, Black, Asian, and mixed race families.

KEYWORDS:

• Discourse/analysis
• qualitative
• obesity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Gillborn

Sarah Gillborn is a PhD candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Psychology department at Leeds Beckett University (UK). Her research primarily focuses on qualitative and critical feminist psychology. Sarah’s thesis includes a critical look at ‘obesity’ policy and understanding how experiences of mothering and responsibility are shaped by the intersections of gender, ‘race’, and social class.

Bridgette Rickett

Bridgette Rickett is a Head of Psychology at Leeds Beckett University (UK) where she has worked for 18 years. She is current chair of Psychology of Women and Equalities section of the British Psychology section. She is a critical organisational psychologist and a feminist researcher whose main research interests are around gender and classed understandings of health, risk, violence and belonging. Bridgette has published in Journals such as Gender, Work and Organization, Journal of Health Psychology and Feminism and Psychology.

Tom Muskett

Tom Muskett is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the School of Social Sciences, Leeds Beckett University, UK. Tom is interested in drawing on perspectives from critical and community psychologies to understand and reconstruct representations of childhood and normativity, and to develop new ways of working practically with children and young people.

Maxine Woolhouse

Maxine Woolhouse is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Leeds Beckett University (UK). Her research and teaching focuses mainly on critical social and health psychology and qualitative research methods. In particular, Maxine is interested in discursive approaches to understanding how gender and social class intersect to shape and inform food and eating-related activities and body management practices, especially in the context of family life.