Four Paradigms for Childhood Obesity

¶ … Childhood Obesity

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) (2010), childhood obesity has more than tripled over the past 30 years. The frequency of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years rose from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008, while among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years the obesity rate increased from 5.0% to 18.1% during the same period. Obesity results when more calories are consumed than expended, and is influenced by genetic, behavioral and environmental factors. Let us take a look at four paradigms associated with this phenomenon.

The functionalist perspective asserts obese are necessary in order to drive others to become healthy and learn what is making people obese. From this perspective the key is not to eliminate this condition, but to utilize this state to explore the psychological and emotional factors that make this situation possible.

Functionalists are concerned with the stability of society and contend the obesity leads to other things such as economic gains that help society as a whole and would damage society's stability if they were to disappear. The abundance of fast food restaurants, diet books, health spas and advertisers that profit from obesity is a good thing for the functionalist. If they did not exist society would not be balanced.

Social Learning Theory views childhood obesity from a macro and a micro perspective. The macro perspective involves the way other socieites view the West and want to emulate the richness of capitalism. The other is micro and is the way individuals learn from each other, beginning with parents or care givers. This theory postulates that conduct is learned by observing modeled behaviors and imitation.

Because many adults do not have healthy diets they pass their unhealthy eating habits to their children. Children are not in control of their food supply and must rely on adults to model a diet. Another factor that may contribute to obesity is school lunches. While at school children are a captive audience, if their lunches include pizza, hot dogs, and the like, that is the behavior and taste they will develop. Conversely, if healthy choices are offered, then the child will be inclined to seek those. Food and hunger are primary drives for our needs and these learned behaviors remain basic parts of an individual's attitude toward nutrition.

The Interpretive or Hermeneutic Paradigm takes into account economics, social status, level of power, rationalization and an historical view of obesity. At a certain weight health problems begin and the ability to work and become a contributing member to society is reduced or is non-existent and they become a burden to society.

Obesity happens over time and the interpretive paradigm would describe this phenomenon as the result of the changing social forces in American culture. For example, the fast food industry is selling products filled with artificial additives all wrapped up in a nice paper sack at an affordable price. Their concern is not to ensure healthy meals but to make the most profit possible. To exacerbate the problem those who are trapped by their economic status and are living close to or at the poverty level can afford nothing other than food that is described as convenient or fast.

Finally the critical paradigm perspective considers the unequal distribution of wealth and resources and applies those thoughts to the issue of childhood obesity. The wealthy have access to good nutrition, health knowledge, and exercise programs that prevent them from becoming obese. Conversely the lower classes do not have access to all of the 'wealth' in terms of food and nutrition knowledge and are left with the junk and fast food that is the only thing made affordable to them. This makes poor people more susceptible to obesity and is the reason obesity is more prevalent among them. A conflict theorist believes that the powerful people force social order on the poor and the weak. The pattern of rich having access to healthy foods and the poor getting the junk food represents the 'social order' of how things work or stability. This pattern leads to obesity among the poor or instability.