Symbolic Interactionism Healthcare sociological theory

Symbolic interaction theory: Healthcare (Obesity prevention)

Symbolic interaction theory "focuses attention on the way that people interact through symbols: words, gestures, rules, and roles" (Plunkett n.d.). The definition of health is an important component of the cultural language in which we operate. Although our definition of health sometimes seems self-evident, like something unchanging and unwavering across the eras, it is a culturally-constructed notion. This can be seen in how the definition of acceptable body weight that has shifted and changed and the symbolic importance given to weight. Today, being overweight is not simply considered a problem of aesthetics but also a health problem with social consequences. Being overweight is seen as 'costing' the health system -- and thus taxpayer's money -- as well as taxing one's heart.

"Extrapolating from self-reported and measured data collected over time, it is estimated that the rate of obesity among adults in Canada in 2007 may actually be about 25%" (Obesity in Canada -- snapshot, 2012, Public Health Agency of Canada). Obesity is on the rise and the health system is taking increasingly aggressive steps to counteract this trend in terms of its rhetoric, emphasizing the financial as well as the personal costs of obesity. "In 2005, obesity-related chronic conditions accounted for $4.3 billion in direct ($1.8 billion) and indirect ($2.5 billion) costs -- a figure that may be an underestimation of the total costs of excess weight in Canada" (Obesity in Canada -- snapshot, 2012, Public Health Agency of Canada).

However, the evidence indicates that this emphasis on the negative...

"Studies have also shown that health-care professionals hold more negative attitudes toward their patients who are obese and, as a result, often spend less time with them during office visits and tend to not counsel them about a healthy lifestyle" (Perry 2012). Doctors are not immune to the prejudices against the obese, and because of the difficulties the obese experience losing weight, they may treat their patients as 'lost causes.' One poll found that "61% of Americans believe that the main cause of the obesity epidemic is 'personal choices about eating and exercising'…Only 19% of the poll's respondents pointed to food manufacturers and the fast-food industry as the key source of the epidemic" (Perry 2012). Obesity symbolizes a lack of self-discipline in Western culture, in contrast to previous eras in which it used to symbolize prosperity, when food scarcity amongst the poor was more common than poor quality of food. Psychologist Chris Crandall of the University of Kansas found that in particular "young adults who stigmatize obesity tend to be more ideologically conservative, favoring traditional sex roles and capital punishment" (Perry 2012).
Anti-obesity rhetoric tends to cause people to blame the individual and his or her lack of willpower. Yet obesity is a multi-factorial illness. Genetics have a profound influence upon people's weight loss efforts. Poverty and race clearly influence the likelihood of being obese. "In 2007, the self-reported obesity rate among off-reserve Aboriginal adults was 24.8%, compared to 16.6% for non-Aboriginal adults" (Obesity in Canada -- snapshot, 2012, Public Health Agency of Canada). However, rather than…