- Title
- An analysis of the roles of the media and various interest aggregations in the social construction of the obesity epidemic
- Creator
- Kriel, Daneel
- Subject
- Obesity in mass media
- Subject
- Identity (Psychology) and mass media Mass media Discourse analysis Social constructionism
- Date Issued
- 2018
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/31434
- Identifier
- vital:31381
- Description
- The regularly shifting positions between frames of individual responsibility and environmental impact characterising the obesity discourse in the media raises suspicion that the purported ‘obesity epidemic’ may be a social construction as opposed to a bona fide public health concern. Should this be the case, it prompts the question, who would go to the lengths of creating a global perception of being overweight as a life-threatening disease and constructing a global ‘epidemic? Additionally, what could be the possible justifications for doing so? This study is an effort to determine whether the ‘obesity epidemic’ is indeed a social construction. This is of concern, because public representations of obesity not only inform the public of medical or biomedical statistics but endorse shame-based narratives that may impact negatively upon the social identities and lives of people by creating meanings that influence cultural understandings of fatness and health. This study employs frame analysis, conceptualizing media frames as independent variables influencing the nature of the obesity discourse. By employing set criteria, eighty articles were selected from various high-profile South African English news sources with an online presence, representing a broad cross-section of the daily news provided to the South African population. A coding frame of key discourses was developed and coded for frame analysis in the QDA Miner software program. The study found that not only is the ‘obesity epidemic’ a social construction, but the result of propaganda executed through the media by large corporations in the ‘health-industrial complex’ for the sake of economic gain. Continued presentation of the ‘obesity epidemic’ as a global public health crisis, serves to reinforce societal myths and stereotypes, while shaping community beliefs, values and behaviour on behalf of corporate institutions.
- Format
- viii, 73 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Arts
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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NMU School of Language, Media and Culture
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | DANEEL J KRIEL.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |