Public Health and Moral Panic: Sociological Perspectives on the‘Epidemic of Obesity'

In 2007, the number of people worldwide who were chronically underfed reached 923 million, some 75 million more than in 2003–2005 (FAO, 2008). By contrast, in 1999, over 1 billion adults and approximately 18 million children were overweight or obese (WHO, 2000). Neither rising food prices, nor rising food insecurity among the world’s poor – especially landless and female-headed households (FAO, 2008) – appear to be slowing the spread of weight gain and obesity, a trend that has been associated, in particular, with populations undergoing socio-economic transformations associated with urbanization, modernization and globalization (WHO, 2000).