Obesity historical perspective

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Historical Perspective

Obesity is the nominal form of obese which comes from the Latin obēsus, which means "stout, fat, or plump." Ēsus is the past participle of edere (to eat), with ob added to it. In Classical Latin, this verb is seen only in past participial form. Its first attested usage in English was in 1651, in Noah Biggs's Matæotechnia Medicinæ Praxeos.

Obesity was a status symbol in European culture: "The Tuscan General" by Alessandro del Borro, 17th century.

In several human cultures, obesity was associated with physical attractiveness, strength, and fertility. Some of the earliest known cultural artifact artifacts, known as Venus figurines, are pocket-sized statuettes representing an obese female figure. Although their cultural significance is unrecorded, their widespread use throughout pre-historic Mediterranean and European cultures suggests a central role for the obese female form in magical rituals, and suggests cultural approval of (and perhaps reverence for) this body form. This is most likely due to their ability to easily bear children and survive famine.

Obesity was considered a symbol of wealth and social status in cultures prone to food shortages or famine. It was viewed in the same manner well into the early modern period in European cultures as well, but as food security was realized, it came to serve more as a visible signifier of "lust for life", appetite, and immersion in the realm of the erotic.

This was especially the case in the visual arts, such as the paintings of Rubens (1577–1640), whose regular depiction of fat women gives us the description Rubenesque. Obesity can also be seen as a symbol within a system of prestige. "The kind of food, the quantity, and the manner in which it is served are among the important criteria of social class. In most tribal societies, even those with a highly stratified social system, everyone – royalty and the commoners – ate the same kind of food, and if there was famine everyone was hungry. With the ever increasing diversity of foods, food has become not only a matter of social status, but also a mark of one's personality and taste."

Contemporary Culture

In modern Western culture, the obese body shape is widely regarded as unattractive and many negative stereotypes are commonly associated with obese people. Obese children, teenagers and adults can also face a heavy social stigma. Obese children are frequently the targets of bullies and are often shunned by their peers. Although obesity rates are rising amongst all social classes in the West, obesity is often seen as a sign of lower socio-economic status. Most obese people have experienced negative thoughts about their body image, and some take drastic steps to try to change their shape including dieting, the use of diet pills, and even surgery. Not all contemporary cultures disapprove of obesity. There are many cultures which are traditionally more approving (to varying degrees) of obesity, including some African, Arabic, Indian, and Pacific Island cultures. Especially in recent decades, obesity has come to be seen more as a medical condition in modern Western culture even being referred to as an epidemic.

Recently emerging is a small but vocal fat acceptance movement that seeks to challenge weight-based discrimination. Obesity acceptance and advocacy groups have initiated litigation to defend the rights of obese people and to prevent their social exclusion.

Some notable figures within this movement, such as Paul Campos, argue that the social stigma surrounding obesity is founded in cultural anxiety, and that public concern over health risks associated with obesity are inappropriately used as a rationalization for this stigma.

Government agencies and private medicine have warned Americans for years of the adverse health effects associated with overweight and obesity. Despite the warnings, the problem is getting worse. In 2004, the CDC reported that 66.3% of adults in the United States were overweight or obese. The cause in most cases is a sedentary lifestyle; approximately 40% of adults in the United States do not participate in any leisure-time physical activity and less than 1/3 of adults engage in the recommended amount of physical activity. Overweight and obesity are easily determined by using Body Mass Index (BMI); this index uses your weight and height to determine body fat. An index A BMI range of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight and anything over 30 obese. Individuals with a BMI over 30 increase the risk of several heath hazards.

Popular Culture

Various stereotypes of obese people have found their way into expressions of popular culture. A common stereotype is the obese character who has a warm and dependable personality, or a jolly fat man like Santa Claus. Equally common is the obese vicious bully (such as Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter book series, Eric Cartman from South Park, Nelson Muntz from The Simpsons).

Gluttony and obesity are commonly depicted together in works of fiction.

In cartoons, obesity is often used to comedic effect, with fat animal characters (such as Piggy, Porky Pig, Tummi Gummi, and Podgy Pig) having to squeeze through narrow spaces, frequently getting stuck or even exploding.

A more unusual example of obesity-related humour is Bustopher Jones, from T. S. Eliot's poem "Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town" featured in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, and the musical Cats derived from the poem. Bustopher's claim to fame is that he is a regular visitor to many gentlemen's clubs including Drones, Blimp's and the Tomb. Due to his constant lunching at these clubs, he is remarkably fat, being described by others as "a twenty-five pounder... And he's putting on weight everyday." Another popular character, Garfield, a cartoon cat, is also obese for humor. When his owner, Jon, puts him on diets, rather than losing weight, Garfield slows down his weight gain.

It can be argued that depiction in popular culture adds to and maintains commonly perceived stereotypes, in turn harming the self esteem of obese people. On the other hand, obesity is often associated with positive characteristics such as good humor. In addition, some people are sexually attracted to obese people (see chubby culture and fat admirer).