Childhood Obesity in America: Biography of an Epidemic
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.35 (903 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0674281446 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-02-15 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Given the epidemic levels of obesity in the U.S., the topic has become popular in the media, leading to enormous numbers of articles, books, TV reports, and so on. Advertising geared toward making bad foods attractive to kids has been rampant and governments have done a poor job controlling it…Dawes ably demonstrates that any solutions will likely be as multifaceted as the problem. Dawes traces the history that led to each crossroad and the implications of the path that our leaders have chosen at each of these crossroads. The
Irene Styles said A great read for people in many countries - not just. Fascinating. This is a must-read for anyone interested in childhood obesity or in the history of health matters in general. It's very fresh, lively and readable and draws you in with surprising anecdotes about people, policies and procedures. The conclusions it draws about what could be done in the future are particularly apt. And it's a good-looking, nicely-produced book as well. A great read for people in many countries - not just the United States. Highly recommended.
Debates about its causes and proper treatment multiplied. A century ago, a plump child was considered a healthy child. Over the century, fat children were injected with animal glands, psychoanalyzed, given amphetamines, and sent to fat camp. Activists and the courts are the most recent players in the obesity epidemic's biography.Today, obesity in this age group is seen as a complex condition, with metabolic, endocrine, genetic, psychological, and social elements. Laura Dawes makes a powerful case that understanding the cultural history of a disease is critical to developing effective health policy.. But by the mid-twentieth century, researchers recognized early obesity as an indicator of lifelong troubles. In recent decades, an emphasis on taking personal responsibility for one's health, combined with commercial interests, has affected the way the public health establishment has responded to childhood obesity--and the stigma fat children face. An overweight child is now known to be at risk for maladies ranging from asthma to cardiovascular disease, and obesity among American children has reached epidemic proportions. Childhood Obesity in America traces the changes in diagnosis and treatment, as well as popular understanding, of the most serious public health problem facing American children today.Excess weight was once thought to be something children outgrew, or even a safeguard against infectious disease. No longer. At variance with this personal emphasis is the
Laura Dawes is a historian of medicine living in Cheshire, England.