CCGL9043 Global Issues

Obesity: Beyond a Health Issue
Timetable for Lectures

Course Description

For the first time in history, there are now more overweight than underweight people and obesity has been proclaimed as an epidemic. Although professional organizations view obesity as a top health challenge, fat activists remain skeptical and criticize the overhyped obesity fear. Can obesity continue to be viewed as a personal health ailment or are there many embedded societal contexts that need to be unveiled?

This course aims to elevate students’ understanding on obesity from being a personal, straightforward problem to a multifaceted, worldwide phenomenon. It will address four fundamental issues (1) “Should Obesity be Problematized?” by considering the alternate views of the fat acceptance movement, and challenging the science that legitimates its war against fatness, (2) the creation of a fat nurturing environment, (3) the consequences of obesity at macroscopic and microscopic levels, and (4) actions taken by supporters and critics in the war against fatness. Students will be engaged to reach a reasoned position in the obesity controversy, and act proactively at individual, societal and global levels.

Course Learning Outcomes

On completing the course, students will be able to:

  1. Identify and describe the perception of fatness in different eras of time and cultures, and compare them with that of the contemporary world.
  2. Demonstrate an awareness of alternative attitudes to obesity, and evaluate the arguments presented by their supporters and critics.
  3. Examine obesity from multiple perspectives, recognize the interconnectedness in between, and differentiate the correlation and causation relationships therein.
  4. Evaluate the impact of obesity on human beings as individuals, as societies, as a global community.
  5. Integrate knowledge from multiple perspectives and formulate appropriate actions as a responsible global citizen.

Offer Semester and Day of Teaching

First semester (Wed)

Study Load

Activities Number of hours
Lectures 24
Tutorials 10
Reading / Self-study 60
Assessment: Essay / Report writing 15
Assessment: Presentation (incl preparation) 35
Assessment: Debate (incl preparation) 15
Assessment: Discussion forum (incl preparation) 10
Total: 169

Assessment: 100% coursework

Assessment Tasks Weighting
Case study 20
Debates 20
Online discussion 10
Participation in lectures and tutorials 10
Individual assignments 40

Required Reading

  • Donohoe, M. (2012). Weighty matters – Public health aspects of the obesity epidemic. In M. Donohoe (Ed.), Public health and social justice (pp. 265-285). Hoboken: Wiley.
  • Monaghan, L., Rich, E., & Aphramor, L. (2010). Conclusion: Reflections on and developing critical weight studies. In E. Rich, L. Monaghan, & L. Aphramor (Eds.), Debating obesity: Critical perspectives (pp. 219-258). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Rich, E., Monaghan, L., & Aphramor, L. (2010). Introduction: contesting obesity discourse and presenting and alternative. In E. Rich, L. Monaghan, & L. Aphramor (Eds.), Debating obesity: Critical perspectives (pp. 1-35). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Recommended Reading

  • Bray, G. A. (2009). History of obesity. In G. Williams & G. Fruhbeck (Eds.), Obesity: science to practice (pp.3-20). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Bellisari, A. (2008). Evolutionary origins of obesity. Obesity Reviews, 9, 165-180.
  • Campos, P. (2010). Does fat kill? A critique of the epidemiological evidence. In E. Rich, L. Monaghan & L. Aphramor (Eds.), Debating obesity: Critical perspectives (pp. 36-59). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Chaput, J. P. (2011). Short sleep duration as a cause of obesity: Myth or reality? Obesity Reviews: An Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 12(5), e2-3.
  • Cooper, C. (2010). Fat lib: How fat activism expands the obesity debate. In E. Rich, L.   Monaghan & L. Aphramor (Eds.), Debating obesity: Critical perspectives (pp. 164-191). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Finkelstein, E. A., Ruhm, C. J., & Kosa, K. M. (2005). Economic causes and consequences of obesity. Annual Review of Public Health, 26, 239-257.
  • Flegal, K. M., Graubard, B. I., Williamson, D. F., & Gail, M. H. (2007). Cause-specific excess deaths associated with underweight, overweight and obesity. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 298(17), 2028-2037.
  • Gilman, S. L. (2008). Fat: A cultural history of obesity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Kline, S. (2011). Globesity, food marketing and family lifestyles. UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Kulick, D., & Meneley, A. (2005). Fat: The anthropology of an obsession. New York: Tarcher/Penguin.
  • Melnyk, B. M. (2010). Addressing the globesity crisis: Dream, discover, and deliver solutions. Childhood Obesity, 6(4), 169-169.
  • Monaghan, L. F. (2005). Discussion piece: A critical take on the obesity debate. Social Theory & Health, 3, 302-314.
  • Monsivais, P., & Drewnowski, A. (2007). The rising cost of low-energy-density foods. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 107(12), 2071-2076.
  • Popkin, B. M., Adair, L. S., & Ng, S. W. (2012). Global nutrition transition and the pandemic of obesity in developing countries. Nutrition Reviews, 70(1), 3-21.
  • Rich, E., Evans, J., & De Pian, L. (2010). Children’s bodies, surveillance and the obesity crisis. In E. Rich, L. Monaghan & L. Aphramor (Eds.), Debating obesity: Critical perspectives (pp. 139-163). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Rigby, N., Leach, R., Lobstein, T., Huxley, R., & Kumanyika, S. (2009). Epidemiology and social impact of obesity. In G. Williams & G. Frühbeck (Eds.), Obesity: Science to practice (pp. 21-40). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Rosengren, A., & Lissner L. (2008). The sociology of obesity. Obesity and Metabolism, 36, 260-270.
  • Selassie, M., & Sinha, A. C. (2011). The epidemiology and aetiology of obesity: A global challenge. Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology, 25(1), 1-9.
  • Toxic Sugar? From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU3GvRsFHqY
  • W. H. O. Consultation. (2000). Obesity: Preventing and managing the global epidemic. World Health Organization Technical Report Series, 894.

Recommended Websites

Course Co-ordinator and Teacher(s)

Course Co-ordinator Contact
Dr E.T.S. Li
School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science		 Tel: 2299 0807
Email: etsli@hku.hk
Teacher(s) Contact
Dr E.T.S. Li
School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science		 Tel: 2299 0807
Email: etsli@hku.hk
Dr J.S.C. Leung
Division of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education		 Tel: 3917 5433
Email: leungscj@hku.hk