Is obesity in Australia a trouble or an issue?

Obesity is widely considered a major concern in Australia and many parts of the
developed world. It has been estimated that 63.4% of Australian adults are
overweight or obese (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2013), with a number of
serious health concerns, including cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and
type 2 diabetes (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2013), arising from obesity. Media
coverage of obesity has traditionally portrayed it as a disease or epidemic,
simultaneously the result of factors out of a persons control and a problem of an
individuals self control and willpower (Boero 2013). Using C. Wright Mills
concept of the sociological imagination, this essay will argue that obesity in
Australia falls under Mills category of issues rather than troubles, in that the
personal troubles associated with obesity are exacerbated, amplified and potentially
caused by, societal structures occurring on a larger scale. As it has been found that
there is a strong link between obesity and overweight in childhood and related
health complications in later life, this essay will focus on the societal structures that
contribute to childhood obesity, and by extension, obesity in adulthood. Following
an overview of Mills definition of the sociological imagination will be presented,
this essays discussion will focus on the ways in which a culture of passive,
sedentary entertainment consumption, food producers and marketers targeting of
children and the link between socioeconomic disadvantage and poor health
guidance in childhood are all structures found within modern Australian society
that contribute to obesity and fit within Mills categorization of issues.

According to C. Wright Mills (2010) the sociological imagination enables

sociologists to understand the larger societal structures at work in terms of their
meaning for the personal lives of individualsin the words of Giddens and Sutton,
to think ourselves away from the familiar routines of our daily lives in order to
look at them from a new point of view (2013, p5). Fundamental to this theory is
the idea of troubles versus issues. Troubles are a private matter; they occur on a
personal level, within the limited areas of an individuals life over which they have
direct control and awareness. Issues exist on a macro scale, expressing larger
trends; they transcend local environments and reflect the larger historical and
societal structures present in society (Mills 2010).
1

These structures are the result of the patterns of relationships between people,
groups and institutions (Giddens & Sutton 2013). It would not be untrue to say that
a person who is obese for psychological, medical or any other reasons is
experiencing a personal trouble; however, the prevalence of obesity in Australia is
a sociological issue which is determined by the impact of societal structures upon
the lives of individuals, three instances of which are discussed below.

One example of a societal structure contributing to childhood obesity in Australia is

a lifestyle of passive entertainment consumption. According to Brown, Nicholson,
Broom and Bittman (2010), children in contemporary society spend more of their
leisure time engaged in passive entertainment rather than physical pursuits when
compared with previous generations. As well as being a sedentary activity,
television and other passive entertainment has been found to be associated with an
increased consumption of energy dense snack foods (Brown et al. 2010). As body
weight is the result of the balance between energy consumption and energy
expenditure, this combination can increase a childs risk of developing unhealthy
lifestyle behaviours leading to obesity in later life (Brown et al. 2010). The role that
television viewing plays in childhood obesity is a societal structure in that it
involves a relationship between individuals and the social institution of the
entertainment industry, on a large scale throughout Australian society.
Entertainment consumption habits are not the only example of such a structure. The
content of the entertainment also matters and the next section will examine the
relationship between food advertising and obesity.

Another sociological factor implicated in the rising rates of childhood obesity is

food manufacturers whose marketing targets children. Companies working with
huge budgets and aided by sophisticated new technologies are able to circumvent
parental supervision and find direct pathways to reach young audiences (Linn &
Novosat 2008). Advertising plays an important role in influencing childrens brand
preferences and habits, and a significant portion of this marketing is for food of
questionable nutritional value (Linn & Novosat 2008). In addition to traditional
television and digital advertising, marketers employ innovative manipulation
techniques, such as enlisting the aid of child psychologists to help exploit childrens
developmental vulnerabilities (Linn & Novosat 2008).
2

As a result of the increasing ingenuity of this advertising, parents can have
difficulty keeping pace with food manufacturers in influencing their childrens
dietary preferences (Linn & Novosat 2008). In this case, the relationship is between
the social institution of food advertising and the social groups of families as well as
individuals. This relationship reduces parents ability to guide their childrens
eating choices in a healthy direction, in addition to exploiting the navet of child
consumers. The harmful effects of this societal relationship, as well as that between
children and the entertainment industry mentioned above, could both be
exacerbated by another social issue, namely socioeconomic disadvantage.

A study by Lee, Harris & Gordon-Larsen (2008) confirmed a link between obesity
rates in children and socioeconomic disadvantage. Although much of their research
was conducted in America, as Australia is a similarly industrialised Western
society, many of their points can be applied generally to the issue of obesity in
Australia. When children live at home, their parents establish and monitor their
lifestyles, including diet, physical activity, entertainment consumption and the
regularity of meals (Lee et al. 2008). As a result of constraints on their time due to
work (for example if both parents work full time, or single parents who also work),
parents in financial hardship are often less able to monitor their children so as to
ensure compliance with healthy routines and habits (Lee et al. 2008). This may
increase the risk of children developing unhealthy habits through unsupervised
meals, increased exposure to television and decreased physical activity (Lee et al.
2008).

When considered on an individual level, obesity can certainly be understood as a

personal trouble; however, the profound influence of societal structures upon the
ways in which individuals make their decisions and interact with their environment
means that the widespread incidence of obesity in Australia must be appreciated as
a sociological issue. The three relationships between individuals, groups and
institutions mentioned above are all examples of how societal structures can place
individuals in situations where their personal troubles are vulnerable to
amplification or exacerbation. In order to meaningfully engage with the topic of
obesity in Australia, these structures must be acknowledged and examined in order
to appreciate the role they play in this widespread sociological issue.
3

List of Works Cited

Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013, Australian Health Survey: First Results,

2011-12, viewed 17 March 2014,
<http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4364.0.55.001Chapter
4122011-12>.
Boero, N 2013, Obesity in the Media: social science weighs in, Critical Public
Health, vol. 23, issue 3, pp. 371-380.
Brown, JE, Nicholson, JN, Broom, D & Bittman, M 2010, Television Viewing by
School Age Children: Associations with Physical Activity, Snack Food
Consumption and Unhealthy Weight, Social Indicators Research, vol.
101, issue 2 pp. 221-225.
Giddens, A & Philip, WS 2013, Sociology, 7th edn, Polity Press, Cambridge.
Lee, H, Harris, KM & Gordon-Larsen, P 2008 Life Course Perspectives on the
Links Between Poverty and Obesity During the Transition to Young
Adulthood, Population Research and Policy Review, vol. 28, issue 4,
pp. 505-532.
Linn, S & Novosat CL 2008 Calories For Sale: Food Marketing to Children in the
Twenty- First Century, The Annals of the American Academy of Political
and Social Science, vol. 615, pp. 133-155.
Mills, CW 2010, Private Troubles, Public Issues in Giddens, A & Phillip WS (ed)
Sociology: Introductory Readings, Polity Press, Cambridge, pp. 5-8.