Regulating obesity? : government, society, and questions of health

Summary: "Regulating Obesity?: Government, Society, and Questions of Health explores the effectiveness of legal interventions aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles, within the larger context of societal norms, excessive consumption, and obesity regulation. W.A. Bogart finds that the government's emphasis on encouraging weight loss and preventing excess weight gain has largely failed to resolve obesity and has instead fueled prejudice against fat people. As a result, state intervention faces the major challenge of shifting norms away from stigmatization of the obese, encouraging more nutritious and healthy lifestyle habits, and accepting bodies in all shapes and sizes. Part of this challenge lies in the complex effects of law and its relationship with norms, including the unintended consequences of regulation. Regulating Obesity? begins by arguing for the protection of the overweight and obese from discrimination through human rights laws. It then examines three other areas of interventions - marketing, fiscal policy, and physical activity - and how these interventions operate within the context of 'health equity.' Professor Bogart concludes that a healthier population is more important than a thinner population. Regulating Obesity? is the first book to engage in the comprehensive evaluation of law's role in encouraging healthy lifestyles and the implications of society's fascination with regulating consumption"--Unedited summary from book jacket.