Symbolic Interactionism
Healthcare sociological theory
Symbolic interaction theory: Healthcare (Obesity prevention)
Symbolic interaction theory "focuses attention on the way that people interact through symbols: words, gestures, rules, and roles" (Plunkett n.d.). The definition of health is an important component of the cultural language in which we operate. Although our definition of health sometimes seems self-evident, like something unchanging and unwavering across the eras, it is a culturally-constructed notion. This can be seen in how the definition of acceptable body weight that has shifted and changed and the symbolic importance given to weight. Today, being overweight is not simply considered a problem of aesthetics but also a health problem with social consequences. Being overweight is seen as 'costing' the health system -- and thus taxpayer's money -- as well as taxing one's heart.
"Extrapolating from self-reported and measured data collected over time, it is estimated that the rate of obesity among adults in Canada in 2007 may actually be about 25%" (Obesity in Canada -- snapshot, 2012, Public Health Agency of Canada). Obesity is on the rise and the health system is taking increasingly aggressive steps to counteract this trend in terms of its rhetoric, emphasizing the financial as well as the personal costs of obesity. "In 2005, obesity-related chronic conditions accounted for $4.3 billion in direct ($1.8 billion) and indirect ($2.5 billion) costs -- a figure that may be an underestimation of the total costs of excess weight in Canada" (Obesity in Canada -- snapshot, 2012, Public Health Agency of Canada).
However, the evidence indicates that this emphasis on the negative...
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