Sociology and Psychology of Obesity

1
Sociology and Psychology of Obesity
2
Sociology Psychololgy of Obesity

• Clinical characteristics of obesity
• Neurological
• Physical
• Emotional

3
Sociology Psychololgy of Obesity

• Clinical characteristics of obesity
• Neurological - mainly those obese since childhood
• Physical health related illness and diseases
• Emotional most feel their bodies are grotesque,
  and loathsome and that others view them with
  hostility and contempt.

4
Sociology Psychololgy of Obesity

• Emotional most feel their bodies are grotesque,
  and loathsome and that others view them with
  hostility and contempt.
• Allon Stigmatization of Obesity
• Obesity is a sin
• Obesity is a disease
• Obesity is a crime

5
Sociology Psychololgy of Obesity

• Allon Stigmatization of Obesity
• Obesity is a sin lacking in self control, self
  indulgent, weak willed.
• Obesity is a disease similar to leporsy
• Obesity is a crime Obese people should be held
  responsible and punished for their offense.
  Punishment is prejudice, discrimination in
  education, employment and everyday life.
• Most alarming

6
Sociology Psychololgy of Obesity Allon
Stigmatization of Obesity Most alarming

• They believe it!

7

• Obese woman clip
• Children study clip

8
Sociology Psychololgy of Obesity

• Albert Stunkard Emotional disturbances related
  to obesity
• Overeating
• Complications of dieting
• Disparagement of the body image (like Allon
  grotesque and loathsome)

9
Sociology Psychololgy of Obesity

• Albert Stunkard Emotional disturbances related
  to obesity
• Overeating
• Clock study
• Liquid meal study
• McDonalds study

10
Sociology Psychololgy of Obesity

• Albert Stunkard Emotional/Physiological
  disturbances related to obesity
• Overeating
• Does not account for all of obesity
• Complications of dieting
• Deprivation caloric thrift
• Deprivation failure to respond to signals of
  hunger/full
• Deprivation often creates a backlash effect

11
Sociology Psychololgy of Eating, Diets and
Dieting

• Body Image An individuals perceptions,
  feelings and attitudes toward his own body.
• Body image distortion Thompson Psychology Today
  Mirror study.
• Estimating body size of others very accurate
• Estimate their own bodily dimensions distortion
  as much as 25. gt 95 of women overestimate their
  body size on their cheeks, then waist, then
  thighs and hips.

12
Sociology Psychololgy of Eating, Diets and
Dieting

• Body image distortion Thompson Psychology Today
  Mirror study.
• Estimating body size of others very accurate
• Estimate their own bodily dimensions distortion
  as much as 25. gt 95 of women overestimate their
  body size on their cheeks, then waist, then
  thighs and hips.
• Women are less satisfied than men in all areas
  except face and height. Greatest torsos,
  muscle tone, weight.
• Why so??

13
Sociology Psychololgy of Eating, Diets and
Dieting

• Patzer The Physical Attractiveness Phenomena
• Discrimination based on physical attractiveness
  probably excels prejudicial discrimination based
  on sex, race, or religion. Regardless of context
  or age of participants, society tends to view the
  attractive as inherently better than those of
  less physical attractiveness.

14
Sociology Psychololgy of Eating, Diets and
Dieting

• Patzer The Physical Attractiveness Phenomena
• The implicit stereotype has produced an
  environment with serious implications for such
  far-reaching activities as employment, helping
  behavior, dating and mating, election of
  politicians, and even personality development.

15
Sociology Psychololgy of Eating, Diets and
Dieting

• Patzer The Physical Attractiveness Phenomena
• The major dissimilarity between discrimination
  based on physical attractiveness vs. sex or race
  discrimination is that the latter are legislated
  against whereas the former is not yet!

16
Sociology Psychololgy of Eating, Diets and
Dieting

• Sheen and Ward France Pagan
• One of the most difficult to document and
  describe is the extent to which any individual
  participates in the mutually constructed
  consciousness of his culture and age. It has
  been estimated that even strong personalities are
  60 80 the result of their environment.

17
Sociology Psychololgy of Eating, Diets and
Dieting

• Advertisement we see 400-600/day, 1/11 are about
  beauty (36-55/day)
• We should be thin and firm
• Present an image of perfection
• 2) We can get that way
• Insinuate you dont measure up
• 3) Resolve
• Buy our product or service

18
Fat video - commercials
19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
Children and Teens Afraid to Eat

• 30-40 of 9-year-olds and 46-81 of ten-year-olds
  are dysfunctional eaters
• 1/12 teen girls vomit or take laxatives.
• 1/3 teens are dysfunctional eaters (disordered
  eating)
• ½ are undernourished
• 1/10 have eating disorders
• All during a critical growth phase

22
College Women Afraid to Eat

• Females 25 years and under have the worst body
  images 80 dislike their bodies and 40 on
  roller-coaster diets
• Food fears milk and meat, anything with fat

23
The church seldom touches this issue

• Book Firm Believer
• Book Gods Answer to Fat Loose it!
• Book Free to be Thin
• Your motive in losing pounds is to please Godif
  serious hes ready to help younow you have a new
  body youre thin and gorgeous for Jesus

24
The church seldom touches this issue

• Book Disciplines of a Beautiful Woman
• How are your hips, thighs, tummy? Do you need
  to get into that jogging suit and run? How is
  your hair? Does it have a good cut, and is it
  clean and healthy? What kind of a program are
  you on to stretch, bend, and stay supple to
  stand tall to be a good advertisement of Gods
  wonderful care of his children?

25
The church seldom touches this issue

• Virtue Magazine Fashion Sense for Worship

26
Biblical passages

• I Cor 619-20. Do you not know that your body
  is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,
  whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
  For you were bought at a price therefore
  glorify God in you body and in your spirit, which
  are Gods

27
Biblical passages

• I Cor 619-20. Do you not know that your body
  is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,
  whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
  For you were bought at a price therefore
  glorify God in your body and in your spirit,
  which are Gods.

28
Biblical passages

• I Cor 618. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin
  that a man does is outside the body, but he who
  commits sexual immorality sins against his own
  body.
• I Cor 619-20. Do you not know that your body
  is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,
  whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
  For you were bought at a price therefore
  glorify God in your body and in your spirit,
  which are Gods.

29
Biblical passages

• Rom 121 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by
  the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a
  living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,
  which is your spiritual worship.

30
Biblical passages

• Rom 121 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by
  the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a
  living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,
  which is your spiritual worship.

31
Biblical passages

• Rom 122 Do not be conformed to this world, but
  be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
• Rom 122 (New English Bible) Adapt yourselves no
  longer to the pattern of the present world, but
  let your minds be remade and your whole nature be
  transformed.

32
Biblical passages

• Point Physical appearance and attractiveness
  are not a criterion to being accepted and used by
  God! More often than not attractiveness is a
  hindrance to usefulness.
• Isaiah 532 He had no beauty or majesty to
  attract us to him nothing in his appearance
  that we should desire him.

33
Biblical passages

• Master Plan of Evangelism
• Selection of David to be king (I Sam 166-7)
• So it was, when they came, that he looked at
  Eliab and said, Surely the Lords anointed is
  before him! But the Lord said to Samuel, Do
  not look at his appearance or at his physical
  stature, because I have refused him. For the
  Lord does not see as man sees for man looks at
  the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the
  heart.

34
Biblical passages

• God wants us to celebrate our bodies!
• Ps 13913-14. For you formed my inward parts
  you covered me in my mothers womb. I will
  praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully
  made Marvelous are your works, and that my soul
  knows very well.
• Gen 126-31

35
Biblical passages

• God wants us to celebrate our bodies!
• Rom 823 be changed to be like Christs glorious
  resurrected body.
• Rom 320-21 For our citizenship is in heaven,
  from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior,
  the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our
  lowly body that it may be conformed to His
  glorious body, according to the working by which
  He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
  
• 41 stand fast in the Lord, beloved!

36
Biblical passages

• How does God want us to treat the overweight and
  obese?
• The same way He want us to treat one another! He
  cleansed the leper (Matt 81-4), healed the
  paralytic (Mk 21-12), gave sight to the blind
  (Matt 927-34), gave speech to the mute (Jn
  1212-19). In short, Jesus obviously
  demonstrated love and compassion to those who
  were considered outcasts of society.

37
Biblical passages

• Summary
• Physical appearance and physical attractiveness
  are not criteria to being accepted and used by
  God. He created us in His image and said His
  creation of man was very good (Gen 131). Our
  hope is in Gods promises, not on the approval of
  society.
• He loves us with an infinite love!