New Publication: Understanding Obesity
By Stanley Ulijaszek
Navigate the minefield of misunderstandings about body weight, fatness and obesity with this new book.
Understanding Obesity by Emeritus Professor Stanley Ulijaszek, Director of the Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity. Published today, Thursday 25 January 2024, by Cambridge University Press. Part of the Cambridge Understanding Life series.
'Understanding Obesity reflects on all aspects of obesity, from the more individual to the more societal: genetics, epigenetics, metabolism, stigma, the food environment, food companies, health inequalities and insecurity… Written in a clear and engaging style, it provides an account of the complexity of obesity, calling for multifaceted, carefully considered responses, and inviting us - ultimately - to be more compassionate human beings towards one another. This book could only have been written by someone such as Stanley Ulijaszek who has immense interdisciplinary expertise, an inquisitive mind and a genuine worldwide view.
A small but mighty book!'
Amandine Garde - Professor of Law, University of Liverpool
Most people have some dissatisfaction or concern about body weight, fatness, or obesity, either personally or professionally. This book shows how the popular understanding of obesity is often at odds with scientific understandings, and how misunderstandings about people with obesity can further contribute to the problem. It describes, in an approachable way, interconnected debates about obesity in public policy, medicine and public health, and how media and social media engage people in everyday life in those debates. In chapters considering body fat and fatness, genetics, metabolism, food and eating, inequality, blame and stigma, and physical activity, this book brings separate domains of obesity research into the field of complexity. By doing so, it aids navigation through the minefield of misunderstandings about body weight, fatness, and obesity that exist today, after decades of mostly failed policies and interventions.
From the Author
I wrote ’Understanding Obesity’ out of a dissatisfaction with the dominant lines of investigation into this phenomenon, and the discourses that drive them. Sure, huge scientific progress has been made and this is outlined and lauded in this book. But this progress has not translated into successeful policy and interventions. The popular understanding of obesity is often at odds with scientific understandings of it, and misunderstandings about people with obesity often add a layer of complexity to an issue that is already complex enough.
I have worked hard in making this book readable. There is huge popular interest in health and well-being and how best to achieve it. Making complexity understandable to everyday people in relation to healthy body size is I think key to aiding navigation through a minefield of misunderstandings about obesity.
Stanley Ulijaszek
