Health and Society Exam 2 Review

13. How does this idea of the "obesogenic environment" relate to Bittman et al. and Pollan?

Pollan talks about the high loading calorie food and Bittman wanted more public policies in encourage healthier food choices. When you have unhealthy food with a lot of calories and little policy to prevent choosing it, you get an obesogenic environment that feeds into obesity.

2.What is unique about poor diet and physical inactivity compared to the other actual causes of death reported by Mokdad, et al. (2004)? How do we interact with diet and physical activity every day compared to other causes of death?

Poor diet and physical inactivity are things we interact with constantly. There is no way to avoid interacting with them. We are intimately connected to this all the time.

18. In which cities do poor residents fair the best? In which cities do they fare the worst? Why?

Poor residents fair the best in wealthier, educated areas. They fare the worst in cities with lower average household income. This is because areas of low economic status are higher in crime and stress levels while having lower education and less capital.

13. How do these changes in agriculture shape public health policies?

Public health policies "protect" these food industry giants.

10. Why do scholars like Williams and Sternthal question genetic arguments about differences between racial groups?

Race is more of a social than biological category (Cooper, Kaufman, Ward 2003 which is in the Williams and Sternthal paper) Race class systems are arbitrary; they're based on stratification, power, and ideologies

16. What is the role of the government in determining how food is grown, processed, eaten, and advertised?

The government (FDA and USDA) is supposed to regulate the growing and processing of food so that it is safe and healthy for consumers. It is also supposed to provide a guideline to Americans showing them a healthy diet, and ensure that no food is being falsely advertised to be or contain something it's not.

6.What does the history of racism and slavery have to do with modern-day racial disparities in health between Whites and Blacks in U.S. society?

The disenfranchisement of blacks did not allow them to be properly represented

8. What are the effects of chronic stress?

Over time, chronic stress leads to exhaustion and disease outcomes

18. What is the Hispanic Paradox?

"Moreover, across multiple immigrant groups, with increasing exposure to American society, health tends to decline. This pattern is especially surprising for Latinos. Hispanic immigrants, especially those of Mexican background, have high rates of poverty and low levels of access to health insurance in the United States. However, their levels of health are equivalent and sometimes superior to that of the white population. This pattern has been called the Hispanic paradox." (Williams and Sternthal p.S21) Braveman et al p. 7:" ''Hispanic paradox'' [is] good health despite rela- tively low incomes and educational attainment." Hispanics have better health and mortality outcomes compared to other minority groups as well as Whites despite having low SES

9. What are the historic biological arguments of racial difference? What were these arguments used to justify? What about more modern-day arguments looking at biological differences among racial groups?

"Science" of racism and theories of "biological differences" were used to justify being "separate but equal" after slavery was abolished Eugenics supported beliefs of racial superiority After the biological basis of racism was scientifically discredited, theories of "cultural pathology" and "social deficit" came about

1.What is social capital? Can you give some examples?

"Who you know," eg your social connections and friendships. Who you know and your social network. Resources embedded in relationships and connections with other people that create opportunities, social support and act as a buffer to life's challenges (friendships and relationships, "I know Bob also")

7. What populations are the most vulnerable in terms of living within a food desert?

"food deserts [strongly affect] low-income and minority neighborhoods that result from the absence of a supermarket." (Walker et al.) Low SES

21. What other methodological problems are there in trying to study "Hispanics"?

'Hispanic' is too general since not all Hispanic groups are the same.

14. How do these changes shape our food choices?

Because most of us don't grow our own food, we have to rely on the food industry (agriculture) to provide us with our food selection. If that selection is unhealthy, then our eating will be as well.

16. What factors have we discussed that explain this trend?

Low SES often lack social relationships and social supports; chronic and acute stress in life and work (racism, classism, other phenomena related to social distribution of power and resources); personality dispositions of low SES is also shaped by stress (lost sense of mastery, optimism, sense of control, self esteem; heightened levels of anger and hostility).

15. How might different players (individual consumers, workers, industry-contracted farmers, small-family farmers, lobbyists, politicians, and agricultural conglomerates) have different interests that might not all work to improve health in the U.S.? Who is responsible for the rise in obesity in children and adults in the U.S. in the last 40 years? How does public policy(or the lack thereof) shape obesity rates in the U.S.?

A free market (capitalism) incentivizes high profits and cheap products. Thus, we have consumers (of particularly low SES) buying the cheapest products, encouraging companies to produce more cheap products by using unhealthy ingredients (corn). Competition in the market means all corporations are fighting to make cheaper products than the other, causing big money to lobby public policy to drop regulations so ethics may be lost in food production, so corporations can produce food even cheaper, and they can pay their employees less. Eventually one of these corporations becomes the biggest and buys out its competitors, small-farmers, and conglomerates so they can control the market and price-out producers which may be using more ethical, yet more expensive products. The only interest these corporations might have in producing healthy foods are to gain the customers buying ethical and quality health foods, which are very few. The lack of policy allows food companies to produce and distribute however they please, and they mostly do this in the unhealthiest way. (food inc.) Food companies have used corn, and its relative cheapness, to their advantage, and have placed it in almost everything we consume, resulting in us over consuming sugar (Pollan). Not only that, but we are also more exposed to deadly bacteria as the way these companies grow their meat, is highly unsanitary (Food inc). The lack of policy results in the American people being more exposed to sugar, which in turn may result in diabetes and obesity.

22. How might racial differences (along with other social variables) shape the experience of immigrants to the U.S.?

A lighter person of the same race might have better chances in the U.S., while a black Hispanic has along the same health outcomes as blacks in the U.S. Also how a european immigrant is able to blend in more than any other immigrant and have an easier experience.

5. What is a stigma?

A mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.

17. What changes do Bittman et al. argue are necessary to improve the current system of food production and food policy in the U.S.?

A national food policy that would coordinate the USDA and Department of Human Health and Human Services to align agricultural and public health objectives, along with EPA and USDA to make sure that the food policies don't undermine environmental goals. The national food policy would eventually change the food system, making healthy choices are accessible to all and we can find nourishment without exploiting the environment or others. (Bittman et al., p. 5)

3. What is meant by the term "intersexed"?

A person who is born with a reproductive anatomy that doesn't fit the typical definitions of female or male.

1. What is gender identity?

A person's internal sense of gender, which may or may not correspond with their birth sex.

6. What social factors are correlated with food deserts according to Walker et al.?

Access to supermarkets, racial/ethnic disparities in food deserts, income/socioeconomic status in food deserts, differences in chain versus non-chain stores, cost, availability of food items, and store type (Walker et al.)

1. What are some social factors related to obesity according to Himes?

Age (obesity increases with age throughout adulthood), gender (women are more likely to be more obese than men at all ages), race/ethnicity (black and hispanic women are more likely to be overweight/obese, but rates are not that different for men), SES (people have more control over their diet), geography (more common in central and southern parts of US)

15. Why is the disparity in life spans between the rich and poor growing?

Because of the segregation between the rich and the poor. Studies show that the poor live longest in affluent, well educated cities that have healthy behaviors; but the cost of living in such a place now is too great for the poor. This is because as the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer, residential segregation increases because the rich hike up the prices of living in more affluent areas.

17. Why were the wives and children of the Tuskegee research participants not given medical care after penicillin was available?

Because the racism had been institutionalized; there was no need to make an individual decision not to give them penicillin because the study "law" already said that they should not be properly treated for their conditions.

1. What is the difference between biological sex and gender when understanding men's and women's outcomes and health?

Biological "sex" and social "gender" processes can interact and may be confounded. We use gender to refer to observed differences in men's and women's lives, morbidity, and mortality (Rieker)

1. What is race?

Biological characteristics are discredited; race is a social construct by humans.

8. Be sure to know the basic ideas captured in Michael Pollan's chapter and the Bittman et al. article and how they relate to some of the ideas presented in Food, Inc.

Bittman et al. article: Wants a "national policy for food, health and well-being." Would make: All Americans have access to healthful food; ● Farm policies are designed to support our public health and environmental objectives; ● Our food supply is free of toxic bacteria, chemicals and drugs; ● Production and marketing of our food are done transparently; ● The food industry pays a fair wage to those it employs; ● Food marketing sets children up for healthful lives by instilling in them a habit of eating real food; ● Animals are treated with compassion and attention to their well-being; ● The food system's carbon footprint is reduced, and the amount of carbon sequestered on farmland is increased; ● The food system is sufficiently resilient to withstand the effects of climate change. Pollan: Overproduction of corn, turning corn into a plethora of unhealthy foods and ingredients, sneaking those ingredients into most foods and sodas, creating extremely unhealthy food culture bc corn and corn products are so cheap to produce. Food Inc. -Scary little government regulation (or deregulation) of major food processing industries. -Horrible livestock and worker conditions -Prevalence of disease in corn-fed livestock

16. How might theories of social/cultural capital factor relate to the Tuskegee syphilis experiment?

Blacks had less social capital than whites. The doctors lured the blacks into being part of the experiment by promising them free medical care and meals

3. How are food insecurity and obesity connected? What explains this connection?

Both can be consequences of low income leading to lack of access to enough nutritious food or stresses of poverty. Limited resources and lack of access to more nutritious foods lead to people opting for the cheaper options that taste good because it is affordable and in some cases they don't have the option for anything else. (FRAC)

2. What do Puhl and Heuer say explains the stigma of obesity?

Common assumptions that individuals are blamed for their weight

8. What are the public health implications of weight bias and obesity stigma?

DIsregard of societal and environmental contributors to obesity, impaired obesity prevention efforts, increased health disparities, and social inequalities. (Puhl, 1024)

19. What theories have been used to help to explain it?

Death certificate: Death certificates for Hispanics only account for the deaths with people who have Hispanic surnames. It doesn't account for a Hispanic woman who married someone without a Hispanic surname. This causes Hispanic deaths on death certificates bias mortality rates downwards Salmon bias hypothesis: Hispanics have lower mortality and morbidity rates because once they get sick, they go back to their home country where they remain sick or die and they are no longer on record. Healthy migrant hypothesis: Those who migrate here have better health, genes and behaviors that are passed on to the next generation Acculturation: Some groups do not assimilate into their new society and keep their culture (Ex. not going to fast food places which is part of the American culture)

3.What are the upstream and downstream factors that contribute to a healthy or unhealthy diet? How does food policy affect availability of healthy food? What impact does the built or natural environment have on individual dietary choices? How do these question emerge in Food, Inc.and how does the film address them?

Downstream: poor diet, lack of exercise Upstream: environmental factors, urban design, land use, public transportation availability, density and location of food stores and restaurants, neighborhood barriers--safety

4. How does this connection reveal the importance of looking beyond the individual level in eradicating obesity as a public health problem?

Especially in the case of children, who don't have any control over their supply of food, obesity is not their fault. The fault lies with the supply (or lack thereof) of good quality and quantity of food.

12. Can you think of more than one way in which racism can become "embodied"?

Ethnic cleansing and apartheid

11. What are microaggressions? Can you name/identify some examples?

Everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory or negative messages to target people based solely upon their marginalized group membership Ex. Racist jokes, slurs

11.What factors do Lantz et al.say explains the relationship between SES and mortality?

Exposure to occupational and environmental hazards Improved access to care only has a "small effect" in preventing further deterioration of health in disadvantaged communities Socioeconomic stratification itself is the largest factor

7. How does poverty shape health outcomes?

Financial capital limits access to health resources, such as insurance, medical care, preventative medical care, medicine, healthy food, and good health behaviors.

13. What factors do Lantz et al.argue are less important, according to their data, despite being emphasized in broader society?

Health behaviors (only account for 12-13% of the differences between groups)

7. How does weight stigma shape the health care for obese individuals? How does weight stigma shape the behavior of obese patients?

Healthcare: they are less likely to seek it out because they know they will be judged based on their weight. Behavior: patients are less likely to get preventative healthcare screenings because they feel they are disrespected when they visit and they are embarrassed when they find that medical equipment was too small for their body types.

2. How does SES relate to social class?

Higher SES usually means higher social class.

2. What is gender orientation?

How a person identifies their physical and emotional attraction to others.

9. When and why did we start "supersizing" according to Pollan?

In the mid 50s/60s David Wallerstein who served as the board of directors for Mcdonald's, but before worked for a chain of movie theaters in Texas realized that people felt piggish going for seconds on popcorn and soda, so then came the single gigantic serving or two-quart bucket of popcorn and sixty-four ounce Big Gulp. He went on to convince Mcdonald's to supersize their meals too. Researchers have found that people presented with large portions will eat up to 30% more that they would otherwise. 1968

3. What different variables do researchers use to capture or assess one's SES in a research study?

Includes social class (income), education, occupational status. SES often intersects with (works in tandem with) other stratifying variables (e.g. race and gender) to compound health outcomes.

5. What can individuals do to increase capital in these areas?

Increase education levels, network

5.What do Williams and Sternthal say are the important sociological contributions to understanding race and health?

Individual vs institutionalized racism Education and residential conditions Stressors (financial) Social support segregation

7.What is institutional racism? Be able to give some examples and explain the pathways to poor health outcomes (Fuentes-George for example).

Institutional racism (structural): Racism expressed and practiced in social policies and institutional arrangements that uses race as criteria for discrimination either intentionally or unintentionally Institutional racism was used to target blacks and minorities in Flint, MI. They could not afford to move to other areas where clean water was available due to redlining. They had lower SES and were less likely to speak up about the water issues to the highly affluent white politicians due to gerrymandering and their political disenfranchisement

13. What did we learn about race and racism from the Tuskegee syphilis experiment?

Institutional racist policies were explained by the scientific designs and models

10. If obesity is known to have a "complex etiology," why do we so often adopt an individual responsibility model?

It goes back to the idea of looking at society as a group of individuals, rather than as a community. It is easier to blame the individual for their being obese than to look at the big picture of them being constantly exposed to foods that would inevitably lead them to being obese.

8. Why is "institutional racism" so difficult to eradicate?

It is reflected in our social systems-residential racial segregation, educational segregation, race-based tracking, criminal justice system, voting ID laws, health care (NOTES FROM CLASS)

15. How might the legacy of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment continue to shape public health and individual beliefs about doctors and health care providers today?

It might make the public suspicious of doctor's intentions, especially towards minority groups. Doctors back then justified their actions by saying "it was just how it was, we were practicing medicine and science"

6. How does the stigma of being transgender shape health outcomes for individuals who identify as such?

It puts transgendered individuals at a greater risk of experiencing discrimination worse health outcomes likewise them engaging in negative health behaviors.

3. What is human capital?

Learned knowledge, eg through school The skills, talents and knowledge that serve as a resource and directly relate to the potential of a human being as a worker or a productive member of a society

4. How does SES help to explain health?

Low SES is highly correlated and causally related to poor health outcomes and increased mortality rates (lower life expectancy). People with low SES may not live in affluent area that has many supermarkets close by to get nutritious foods, may have psychological stress about financial situations, may not feel safe exercising in their community (due to poor lighting or crime) or do not have the time to work out (if they are working many jobs), or may not have health insurance which deters them from getting primary care from a doctor High SES is highly correlated and causally related to better health outcomes and decreased mortality rates (higher life expectancy) People with high SES may live in an affluent area where they have access to healthy foods, do not stress as much about financial situations, can afford a gym membership or have a safe community where they can exercise outside and have the time to do so, have health insurance and go to the doctor when they want.

10. Why are low-SES individuals and families under stress?

Low SES people have less control over their lives: Food options become more restricted as bills pile up. People stress about how they are going to feed their family They cannot afford to have hobbies which makes an impression on children (children feel the burden and are aware that they do not have as much as other people) They have unpredictable schedules, and parents may stress about who is going to pick their child up from school, taking time off to spend with their children, take them to the doctor, etc.

5. What conditions/diseases are associated (correlated) with low SES?

Low birth weight, cancer, cardiovascular problems, diabetes, hypertension, depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug addiction, lower life expectancy

19. Through which pathways can education improve your health?

More knowledge leads to healthier behaviors, education leads to more economic opportunities, higher education leads to more perceived control, and social networks also come along with higher education.

9. Is stigma an effective tool to fight obesity according to Puhl and Heuer? Why or why not?

No, stigma actually leads to the opposite. If the stigmatization occurs when the individual is young then they are more likely to engage in binge-eating, unhealthy weight control behaviors, lower levels of physical activity, lower participation in physical activity, and negative views towards sports. In adults, binge eating as a coping mechanism, avoiding exercise and refusal to diet are common in victims of stigmatization. It also causes psychological stress leading to depression, low self esteem and body dissatisfaction.

5. According to Katz, what do we need to focus on? How do we need to shift our language with regards to this social/public health problem? Watch this documentary carefully!

On a sentence structure level, we need to stop putting the focus on women (victim), and instead shift the focus in our language and how we talk about the violence to the perpetrator. "Our whole cognitive structure is setup to ask questions about women and women's choices and what they're doing, thinking, wearing. However, asking questions about Mary is not going to get us anywhere in terms of preventing violence. We have to ask a different set of questions. The questions are not about Mary, they're about John." (from the ted talk)

4. What is racism? Can you name, explain, and give examples of different types of racism?

Racism: prejudice, discrimination or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior Individual-level racism: When one person is racist towards another individual intentionally (Ex. micro aggression, racist jokes) Institutional racism (structural): Racism expressed and practiced in social policies and institutional arrangements that uses race as criteria for discrimination either intentionally or unintentionally (Ex. Residential segregation (Federal Housing Administration, NHA 1934, redlining), educational segregation (until Brown vs. Board of Education), race-based tracking (stop and frisk), criminal justice system, voting ID laws (Literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather clause), healthcare) Internalized racism: When racial minorities accept the dominant society's perception of their inferiority

2. What health problems for men and women can be explained by biological differences?

Reproductive tract health problems because of different plumbing, different sex hormone level problems based on different sex hormones. Mortality Rates: men have higher rates of fatal disease and mortality Morbidity Rates: women have higher rates of nonfatal diseases and acute and chronic conditions Reproductive Differences: prostate, ovarian and uterine cancers. Sex-Linked Diseases: vulnerability because of DNA mutations Chronic Conditions: men have higher rates of heart disease at earlier ages and autoimmune disease are more common in women. Mental Health Vulnerabilities: women suffer more from depression and anxiety than men do and men are more likely to have substance abuse problems

1. What is SES?

SES is a multidimensional variable that includes income, education, and occupational status. The Lance Armstrong paper separates income and education. Sometimes researchers have to decouple other terms like white and higher SES. Class is something American society has not talked about in a while, but is usually referred to a higher income which leads to a nicer house in a better location and school.

14. What beliefs about race helped to frame and perpetuate that "scientific" study?

Scientists said that syphilis in the black male was a different disease than syphilis in the white male (they thought that blacks were biologically different than whites) Because blacks were uneducated, they would not seek treatment for syphilis anyways

10. Why is healthy food more expensive than unhealthy food?

Simply put, unhealthy food is cheaper to produce. Eg corn syrup derived from corn is used as a sweetener in many products, not for nutritional benefit, but because it is much cheaper than other sweeteners. Food processing industries have maximized the efficiency of producing food, thereby minimizing costs, and as a result have sacrificed nutrition.

4. How do these types of capital relate to Marmot's ideas about status and health?

Social status is gained and displayed through financial, human, social, and cultural capital. Power is also displayed through these.

2. How does obesity shape health behaviors, preventive care, and experiences in the healthcare system?

Society blames obesity on the individual. Therefore, medical staff are somewhat prejudiced against them and as a result, obese people do not receive as much preventative care as non-obese people. (Puhl and Heuer) State government has focused only on proximal causes of obesity, not the societal or fundamental causes.

4. In what way does Jackson Katz say we need to change the way we think about violence against women?

Society needs to stop looking at this type of violence as only a womans issue, it affects men and young boys also, so it should no longer be viewed as just a woman's issue. This issue doesn't just affect men, men CAUSE this issue. As a society we shift the blame of gender violence onto the victim (women), when instead it is a MAN performing that gender violence.

12. Which factor, do they argue, is the most important in explaining the relationship between SES and health outcomes?

Socioeconomic stratification

3. How do both stigma and bias shape the care provided to obese individuals?

Stigma that regards obesity as an individual-level issue results in care that only targets downstream causes (poor diet, inactivity). This excludes root causes such as policies, legislation, etc.

17. Why is geographic location more important for poorer Americans?

Studies show that the poor live longest in affluent, well educated cities that have healthy behaviors

11. How does looking at the individual as both the culprit and solution of obesity "depoliticize" the issue of obesity?

The government focuses all of their efforts on educating obese people, instead of coming up with a plan to solve it, they do it to show that obesity rates are increasing because the americans lack the knowledge of how weight is gained. However all this does it put the blame on the individual. The government proposed a bill that prevented restaurants from serving food to obese people, but this only heightens the obesity stigma.

14. What is the relationship between income and life expectancy?

The higher your income, the higher your life expectancy

4.How have cultural standards of the ideal male and female physique changed over time? Is this ideal equally applied to men and to women? How have these ideals supported and been perpetuated by fitness and diet industries?

The male ideal went from Dandies (slim and pale), to Teddy Roosevelt (rugged physique), to Arnold Schwarzenegger (high muscle definition) and the "hipster" (slight return to Dandies) Marketed through the story of a skinny boy being bullied and becoming a man who fights back when he is muscular The female ideal went from women in corsets (hourglass physique), to Twiggy (hyper thin and lanky), to Pamela Anderson/Kim Kardashian (boobs/butt) and the "crossfit" woman who is visibly muscular Marketed by saying "strong is the new skinny", "fitspo", etc.

4. What role does the media play in shaping how we perceive and understand obesity?

The media makes both the cause and solution to obesity the individual, meaning that they are responsible if they lose the weight or not. This emphasizes the role of "personal responsibility" when it comes to obesity stigma. "News coverage of the personal causes and solutions to obesity significantly out- number other societal attributions of responsibility. Entertainment media also communicate anti-fat messages and reinforce perceptions that body weight is within personal control. The current societal message is that both the cause and the solution for obesity reside within the individual. Thus, the pervasiveness of the ''personal responsibility'' message plays a key role in stigmatization, and serves to justify stigma as an acceptable societal response." (Puhl)

20. What are some of the problems in the existing data available to study the Hispanic Paradox?

The paradox is multifactorial and social in nature There is variability based on country of origin, race, etc. If the reason for the paradox is mostly cultural, then the paradox will only exist if a large percentage of Hispanics keep their culture after coming to the US

14. What does Aamodt say in her TED talk that challenges an individualistic argument towards weight loss? What evidence does she provide?

The set point isn't something you can really control or change. Most people who go on diets gain the weight back - and more. (Evidence: the study showed that after 5 years, 40% of people gained more weight back). Things like magazines would target people to go on diets and etc so it's more of an upstream issue.

5. What is a food desert?

There are many ways that the authors tried to define what a food desert was, but they all basically said something along the lines of: 'An area where high competition from multiple [large chain supermarkets] has created a void' (Walker et al.). In these food deserts, people do not have access to the affordable, healthy food that others do. "access to healthy food is limited"

9. How does Selye's general adaptation to stress model help us explain chronic stress and health.

There's three stages: alarm (fight or flight), resistance, and exhaustion

5. How does health care provider bias perpetuate the stigma of obesity?

They spend less time and provide less health education with obese patients compared to thinner patients, so the obese patients feel disrespected by their providers, think they will be taken less seriously because of their weight, the doctors blame everything on their weight and they are reluctant to share their weight concerns with their providers. "There is also research indicating that providers spend less time in appointments and provide less health education with obese patients compared with thinner patients. In response, obese individuals frequently report experiences of weight bias in health care. Obese patients also indicate that they feel disrespected by providers, perceive that they will not be taken seriously because of their weight, report that their weight is blamed for all of their medical problems, and are reluctant to address their weight concerns with providers. All of these findings point to substandard health care experiences for obese individuals."

6. What does research show health care providers think about obese individuals?

They think that the obese patients are "lazy, lacking in self-discipline, dishonest, unintelligent, annoying, and non-compliant with treatment." "Both self-report and experimental research demonstrate negative stereotypes and attitudes Toward obese patients by a range of healthcare providers and fitness professionals, including views that obese patients are lazy, lacking in self-discipline, dishonest, unintelligent, annoying, and noncompliant with treatment."

3. What does Leslie Morgan Steiner say is the reason that women don't leave abusive men?

They're scared for their lives

4. What does transgendered and cisgendered refer to, what about SGM?

Transgendered: Personal identity and gender do not correspond to their sex given at birth. Cisgendered: Personal identity and gender do correspond to their sex given at birth. SGM: Sexual and Gender identity Minority

12. Why do Puhl and Heuer say we need to look at the "obesogenic environment'?

We need to look at the "obesogenic environment" because it is shaping what individuals are consuming and what is leading to obesity in the first place. They are only responding to their environment, their obesity has little to do with their willpower and self-control.

1. What is weight bias? Why is it pervasive in our society?

Weight Bias: negative attitudes towards people who are overweight or obese. This leads to discrimination and prejudice by those who assuming that the person is lazy and lacking in willpower. Pervasive: weight bias is prevalent in our society because when it comes to disease, people choose to assign others as either the victims or the perpetrators. In the case of obesity, society sees the obese individual as the one to blame because they are "architects of their own health". "Society regularly regards obese persons not as innocent victims, but as architects of their own ill health, personally responsible for their weight problems because of laziness and overeating" (Puhl) "Instead prevailing societal attributions place blame on obese individuals for their excess weight, with common perceptions that weight stigmatization is justifiable (and perhaps necessary) because obese individuals are personally responsible for their weight, and that stigma might even serve as a useful tool to motivate obese persons to adopt healthier life-style behaviors." (Puhl)

12. Are these changes for the better or the worse, according to Bittman et al.?

Worse. Today's children are expected to live shorter lives than their parents. Which is because a third of these children will develop Type 2 diabetes. At the same time, our fossil fuel dependent food and agriculture system is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector of the economy but energy. And the exploitative labor practices of the farming and fast-food industries are responsible for much of the rise in income inequality in America (Bittman, et al.)

3. What explains racial disparities in health in the U.S.?

a. SES explains a lot of the racial/ethnic variation in health b. Biological differences/genetic explanations c. Cultural/behavioral approach d. Racism Asians have better health measures compared to everyone else Hispanics fare better than Whites in many respects Blacks fare poorly compared to whites in all measures of health (More vulnerable to diseases outcomes, 2x higher infant mortality rates, shorter life expectancy, less access to healthcare and insurance coverage, lower perceptions of quality of care and trust of the provider)

6. Be able to know and discuss issues concerning SES and access to care, environmental pollution/toxins, social supports, and health behaviors?

a. Tobacco use Low SES people are more likely to smoke (possibly because they are not properly educated on the negative effects of smoking and are not empowered to cut the habit) b. Diet and nutrition Low SES people have poorer nutrition (their budget may not allow them to buy organic food, ex. margarine, or they may live in a food desert) c. Exercise Low SES people lead more sedentary lives (they may not have the time to work out and their neighborhood may have bad lighting and a lot of crime which will deter them from working out) d. Alcohol use Low SES people are more likely to drink more alcohol (they may pick this habit up if they are stressing too much about their financial situation, etc.) e. Toxins/environmental stressors Poorer areas are typically near highways, industrial areas and toxic waste sites, and experience more noise pollution. (low SES people cannot afford to move to a more desirable area, ex. Flint, MI). They may be exposed to pesticides depending on their occupation f. Crime In poorer areas, drug trade may be the best economic opportunity, or the youth may seek affirmation from neighborhood gangs if there is no parental presence, which causes there to be less trust within the neighborhood

1.How is obesity defined in a public health context? What measurement is used to determine obesity? How has obesity prevalence changed over time?

a. Your BMI is used to determine if you are obese or not b. BMI (body mass index) looks at your height to weight ratio i. Below 18.5, underweight ii. 18.5-24.9, normal/healthy weight iii. 25-29.9, overweight iv. 30+ obese (class I, class II, class III) c. Obesity has become more prevalent in America from 1985-2014 (mostly in central and southern US)

2. What is ethnicity?

cultural heritage

11. How has agriculture changed in the last several decades in the U.S.?

heavily growing corn as most of our agriculture output

2. What is cultural capital? Can you give some examples?

social symbols of belonging, eg knowing which type of fork to use with what food. Social signs that communicate power and social standing through cultural knowledge and experiences Credentials, preferences and taste, accents, vocabulary, confidence Ex. wine