Health Policy Commons^™

Politics Of The Obesity Epidemic, Jacob Lyle

CMC Senior Theses

American society has long been obsessed with the issue of obesity. The turn of the 20th century broadly marked the beginning of America's current collective understanding of obesity. Throughout the century, the salience of the issue waxed and waned due to various factors. Around 2000, obesity became a major political issue. Media coverage of the issue exploded, and it became a hot topic for political debate. This paper looks to conduct a complete reckoning of the obesity epidemic that includes contextualizing the economic, cultural, and political factors that have shaped the issue throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.