What are some sociological (functionalist, marxist or interactionist) views of obesity?

Question

Any listings of sociologists, especially well known ones, who use any of these sociological perspectives in relation to obesity would also be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

The theories you’ve mentioned approach the issue differently. Let me start from Marxists. For them, in my view, obese people do not afford quality food and find access to physical exercise expensive because of their economic disadvantage. They work fulltime sometimes overtime to make ends meet because of their low wages. Therefore they have little time left to manage their bodyweight. Marxists, may argue that, obesity is a common problem more among working class and people with low income than the better off.

Interactionists are interesting and they are my favorite.  Their focus is on the day to day interaction and behavior of obese people with the rest of the society.  It is more about how obese view themselves and think other people view them. If you for example smile when you see an obese man, the person may think that you are showing that as a form of disapproval.  Interactionists analyze the way other people present themselves towards obese guys not to hurt their feelings or become politically correct . I and my friends sometimes talk about losing weight, etc. I sometimes make statements unconsciously which I find regrettable and painful because I observe that my friend who is obese cringe.

Actually I do not like functionalist perspectives. Believe it or not functionalists presume that obesity is useful if not acceptable.  It is when we see people suffering from obesity, functionalists observe, that we take care of our dietary habits. If you want to teach your child how much obesity is a debilitating factor and a health menace the best way is to show them those suffering from obesity. Functionalists wants us to focus on what we learn from the problem not what causes the problem, the later is entirely the unclaimed turf of Marxists. I hope you will find the points I tried to raise somewhat useful.