Obesity By Julie Guthman Summary

Within the last thirty years, the rise obesity has become a major topic of concern in the United States. While many argue that this increase in size is due to disruptions in the “energy balance model,” which states that the obesity is due to a combination of eating too many calories and not exercising enough (Smith & Cummins, 2009), Julie Guthman argues in her book Weighing In that this definition focuses too much on the individual’s actions without looking at the broader health consequences derived from the built environment, agricultural policies, and neoliberal capitalism. However, although Guthman does offer some excellent points, specifically with her political ecology perspective in the alternative food movement, she does little to …show more content…
To explain the rise of obesity, Guthman argues that exposure to “obesogens,” or substances such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) or higher levels of estrogen and other hormones, have led disrupted people’s metabolisms and regulation of fat cells. While the idea of chemical obesogens seems valid, given that EDCs are known to be correlated with illnesses and disorders such as cancer (Silent Spring Institute, 2006), Guthman again still does not have much evidence to prove her point, since these chemicals have barely been studied when researching obesity. Overall, while Guthman makes an interesting point in that scientists should consider causes of obesity besides the disruption in energy balance, her absolute refusal to agree with the energy balance model causes her to ignore a well-studied idea. Instead, a mix of the energy balance model and the exposure to obesogens would likely provide the most accurate explanation for the rise in …show more content…
While mainstream thinking perhaps provides a more reasonable explanation about the science behind the epidemic, Guthman challenges the political, social, and economic forces that have induced the national increase in size and calls for the shift away from blaming the individual and towards policy changes to unearth the roots of the problem. However, for all the Guthman talks about the pitfalls of neoliberal capitalism, and with many valid points as well, she ultimately fails to offer up other potential solutions. At the end, she calls for people to use “food” issues “to change capitalism,” but how? Guthman leaves that for the reader, and the others who suffer from the repercussions of the U.S. food industry to