An Anthropological View on Obesity

Paper Summary:

Although the primary function of a culture is to help a society deal with its problems and thus ensure survival, cultural success does not necessarily yield biological success. The paper shows that one of the fundamental principles in anthropology is the holistic perspective. An ethnographer uses this viewpoint to understand a cultural system through all of its "cultural institutions- social, political, economic, etc." The paper shows that by analyzing various cultural factors in America, one can discern that the growing prevalence of obesity among Americans is due largely to their culture. In other words, we live in a society that discourages obesity, yet all of our cultural institutions support it. By comparing American culture to that of other countries the world over and by using the holistic perspective, the paper shows that the rise of obesity in America over the past twenty years is due to the media, lifestyle and productive economy in the U.S. today.

From the Paper:

"The effects of American culture on eating habits and obesity are more obviously noted by studying immigrants in the United States. For example, numerous studies conducted by anthropologists at the University of Michigan have found that "Asian American and Hispanic adolescents are over twice as likely to be obese as first-generation immigrants" to America (Smith 994). Moreover, an in depth ethnography of Maya-American children, assesses that immigration to America increases the likelihood that children will develop obesity. By comparing the average BMI across samples of Maya-American children and Mayan Children, anthropologists were able to determine that the Maya-American children have higher average BMI than do Maya children living in Guatemala. This is a reflection of the fact that the Maya-American children's diet and physical activities changed dramatically under Western influence. Most notably, the Maya-American children reported TV and video games as their favorite leisure activities and claimed to eat unhealthy American fast-food regularly (Smith 999). By studying the effects that American culture has on the lifestyle of U.S immigrants, anthropologists have been able to confirm that U.S. culture does, indeed, cause obesity and have gone further to pinpoint what the major contributing factors of American culture are."

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