The Big Australian: Obesity in the Modern World

Abstract

Here we describe the problem of obesity worldwide and in Australia. Readers are introduced to the book's conceptual approach to exploring the way social structures can impact on key health behaviours. The book focuses on five key trends identified by experts as the most important contributors to Australia's growing weight. Although all are intricately interconnected, three of the trends are linked particularly strongly with declining levels of physical activity: (a) car reliance (b) busyness and (c) changing forms of leisure; while two are more obviously related to food consumption: (d) aggressive marketing of food and (e) rising use of convenience foods, legitimated by busyness. The chapter foreshadows that obesity is a socio-cultural and economic issue that requires structural rather than individualistic explanations and responses.