ABSTRACT
Obesity as a category has been the subject of much public debate over the past decades. It has become the target of public health concern and part of a rethinking of where the sources of danger for the public may lie. Such a rethinking mixes and stirs many qualities together to provide a compelling story that defines “obesity” as the “new public health epidemic.” Defining where danger lies is central to a rethinking of obesity as the central problem of public health. Given that dieting culture today claims to “cure” obesity, the warning of George A. Bray should be taken seriously:
The studies of diet have shown that no diet is ideal. Cannon showed that gastric contraction is a hunger signal modified by food in the stomach. Diets modifying every nutrient have been published by a gullible and optimistic public. If any of them had “cured” obesity, it is hard to see what the market would be for the next diet.
