From Lipophilia to Lipophobia: The Role of Moral Entrepreneurs

Abstract

In the last decades, in most developed countries, fat has progressively been banished from both our plates and our bodies. Lipophobia is now growing in affluent societies, in striking contrast to traditional societies, where lipophilia prevails. In the last 30 years scientific, medical, and public health interest in obesity has skyrocketed. Increasingly the term "epidemic" is being used in the media to describe the current prevalence of corpulence in modern societies. To understand the phenomenon of increasing lipophobia and related issues, this paper focuses on how the standards toward fat evolved and on how moral entrepreneurs impact the perception of fat in Western societies via the use of media. NR - 32 PU - PALGRAVE PI - BASINGSTOKE PA - HOUNDMILLS, BASINGSTOKE RG21 6XS, ENGLAND