Personal responsibility and obesity: a constructive approach to a controversial issue.
Journal Article
The concept of personal responsibility has been central to social, legal, and political approaches to obesity. It evokes language of blame, weakness, and vice and is a leading basis for inadequate government efforts, given the importance of environmental conditions in explaining high rates of obesity. These environmental conditions can override individual physical and psychological regulatory systems that might otherwise stand in the way of weight gain and obesity, hence undermining personal responsibility, narrowing choices, and eroding personal freedoms. Personal responsibility can be embraced as a value by placing priority on legislative and regulatory actions such as improving school nutrition, menu labeling, altering industry marketing practices, and even such controversial measures as the use of food taxes that create healthier defaults, thus supporting responsible behavior and bridging the divide between views based on individualistic versus collective responsibility.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Brownell, KD; Kersh, R; Ludwig, DS; Post, RC; Puhl, RM; Schwartz, MB; Willett, WC
Published Date
- March 2010
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 29 / 3
Start / End Page
- 379 - 387
PubMed ID
- 20194976
Pubmed Central ID
- 20194976
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1544-5208
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0278-2715
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0739
Language
- eng