Health officials, educators and governments the world over are up in arms over what they see as an obesity epidemic. Changing diets, a growing dependence on processed foods, and modern conveniences have done away with the necessity for much physical exertion. This has resulted in rapidly expanding waistlines and a host of associated health complications: diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and joint damage, to name just a few.
A recent article in Physicians News Digest referred to obesity as "a catastrophic public health issue that threatens to cripple and bankrupt the medical system". You can hardly accuse governments of inaction: "fat taxes" are springing up in Europe, New York City recently banned large-sized sodas, and many cities have banned trans fats entirely.
Aside from tax incentives and consumer restrictions, recognising being overweight as a preventable health problem is now a cultural consensus, taught in schools and driven home with anti-obesity public service announcements and education. Is this the kind of decisive action a dire health crisis demands?
Dr Lucy Aphramor doesn't think so. A researcher at Coventry University and a dietitian with Atrium Health, which is a social enterprise of Britain's Department of Health, Aphramor thinks that in many ways, these measures are making the problem worse.
She believes the measures are often based on outright falsehoods, namely that science is decisive on the link between health and weight. She fears the focus on weight as a preventable health issue has created a society-sanctioned environment of discrimination in which people struggling with their weight are openly ridiculed and treated as second-class citizens under the erroneous cover of moral obligation or public good.
"It became apparent to me early on that the fixation on weight was harmful: patients weren't improving their health, and would become preoccupied with weight and food, which affected their moods and social lives," says Aphramor, who has worked with the National Health Service for more than 10 years.