IDS 402 1-2 Activity: Lens Exploration

Southern New Hampshire University

John Morrill

March 5, 2024
My Existing Knowledge About Wellness

My assumption about wellness, obtained from the internet, is that wellness means they feel good

and can do productive things for themselves and others. If a person is well, their mind can clearly

make rational decisions, and these good decisions can create more wellness. Obesity seems

unwell. When I notice someone who is obese, I think of all the weight that is on their legs, and

carrying extra weight must be a burden. The additional volume of this weight would make

smaller spaces, such as when behind the steering wheel of a car, seem uncomfortable. It is

sometimes said that people who are overweight have stored more food in their bodies and have

insulation from the cold, but this extra weight and size seems unnecessary.

History Lens

"The origins of obesity can be traced back at least 25,000 years. In the Stone Age, the Middle

Ages, and the 17th century, being overweight indicated prosperity, power, and fertility, but

Hippocrates had already described obesity as a disease in the Ancient Age. (Balke & Nocito,

2013)" So obesity has been around for a long time. People in the United States are aware of

obesity by looking at pictures of past Presidents and powerful people of the past and realize that

there has been a rich class of people who ate too much and did not exercise in our history.

Humanities

Culture is defined as a social construct, an idea created and accepted by a society formed by

norms, values, and beliefs; culture is usually taught and passed down from generation to

generation (Zohra & Pharm, 2020). The obesity rate in the USA is 42%, while Europe, Africa,

and Asia, the places we came from, all have obesity rates near or below 20% (World Population
Review, 2024). Due to the significant disparity in these rates, one must think there is a cultural

difference between where we came from and the “New World" where we are now. American

food culture includes tater tots, the triple cheeseburger, the banana split and 50 others (Joseph,

2021). Almost all food in France is eaten with a knife and fork (Domaines Terroirs, n.d.) so there

are not a lot of oversized sandwiches there. Cultures are norns, is it a norm to be overweight in

the United States? To explore obesity with a humanitarian lens, one would answer this question.

According to the lived experience from the National Library of Medicine, obese people are

"humiliated by health professionals because of their weight. Participants felt an individual

responsibility to lose weight, and many tried extreme forms of dieting to do so. Participants

described an increasing culture of 'blame' against people living with obesity perpetuated by

media and public health messages (Thomas, 2008)." With obesity rates this high, it appears that

shaming is not a viable strategy to encourage weight loss.

Natural and Applied Science

According to the NHS, obesity is caused "when extra calories are stored in the body as fat. When

consumption of high amounts of energy, mainly found in high fat and high sugar foods are not

worked off through physical activity, much of the extra energy will be stored in the body as fat

(NHS, n.d.). The high energy content of fast food is a cause for weight gain (Mohammadbeigi, et

all, 2018) while too little time is available for exercise. A lens of natural science would give

extensive details of energy in foods and the amount of exercise required to work it off.

Social Science
There are numerous theories on how the social environment affects obesity. Some theories are

that people become obese at a particular time of life. Other social theories state that

socioeconomic conditions create obesity, with poor people more likely to be obese. Another

factor is a mindset. Some people believe they are responsible for their weight, while others do

not feel responsible (Cockerham, 2022). Today, there is a "body positive" theme that is trying to

counteract the "fat shaming" that has occurred in our society. Bigger people are accepted Today

in the United States because more of the population is heavier than 50 years ago.
 References

Balke, H., & Nocito, A. (2013). Vom Schönheitsideal zur Krankheit - eine Reise durch die

Geschichte der Adipositas [A trip through the history of obesity]. Praxis, 102(2), 77–83.

https://doi.org/10.1024/1661-8157/a001169

Cockerham, W. (2022, July). Theoretical Approaches to Research on the Social Determinants of

Obesity.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379722001210

Domaines Terroirs. (n.d.). FOOD ETIQUETTE.

https://domaines-terroirs.com/travel-information/food-etiquette/#:~:text=Table

%20manners%20are%20Continental%20meaning,with%20a%20knife%20and%20fork

Joseph, D. (January 16, 2021). American food: The 50 greatest dishes.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/american-food-dishes/index.html

Mohammadbeigi, A., Asgarian, A., Moshir, E., Heidari, H., Afrashteh, S., Khazaei, S., & Ansari,

H. (2018). Fast food consumption and overweight/obesity prevalence in students and its

association with general and abdominal obesity. Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene,

59(3), E236–E240.

https://doi.org/10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2018.59.3.830

NHS. (n.d.). Obesity - Causes NHS choices.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/obesity/causes/#:~:text=It%27s%20caused%20when

%20extra%20calories,in%20the%20body%20as%20fat
Thomas, S (2008, July 28). Being “fat” in today’s world: A qualitative study of the lived

experiences of people with obesity in Australia. Health expectations : an international journal of

public participation in health care and health policy.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18684133/

World Population Review. (2024). Obesity Rates by Country 2024.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/obesity-rates-by-country

Zohra Salehi M.D., Pharm.D. (2020). Cultural actors related to the obesity epidemic.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128188392000119