IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v45y2013i1p142-158.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Too Much Food and Too Little Sidewalk? Problematizing the Obesogenic Environment Thesis

Author

Listed:
  • Julie Guthman

    (Division of Social Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA)

Abstract

The obesogenic environment thesis is that increased prevalence of obesity is because people are surrounded by cheap, fast, nutritionally inferior food and a built environment that discourages physical activity. This thesis has animated various planning, advocacy, and educational interventions to address these obesogenic qualities. However, studies designed to test the thesis have generated inconclusive or marginal results, and the more robust findings may be based on spurious correlations. Part of the problem is methodological: researchers embed many assumptions in their models and derive causality from unexamined correlation. As such, they neglect the possibility that features of the built environment may be as much an effect of sociospatial patterning as a cause. In addition, in embedding taken-for-granted assumptions about the causes of obesity—namely, the energy-balance model—these studies foreclose alternative explanations, including the possible role of environmental toxins. This approach to studying the obesogenic environment is a textbook example of problem closure, in which a specific definition of a problem and socially acceptable solutions are used to frame the study of the problem's causes and consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Julie Guthman, 2013. "Too Much Food and Too Little Sidewalk? Problematizing the Obesogenic Environment Thesis," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(1), pages 142-158, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:1:p:142-158
    DOI: 10.1068/a45130
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a45130
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a45130?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew J. Plantinga & Stephanie Bernell, 2005. "A Spatial Economic Analysis of Urban Land Use and Obesity," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 473-492, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mi Namgung & B. Elizabeth Mercado Gonzalez & Seungwoo Park, 2019. "The Role of Built Environment on Health of Older Adults in Korea: Obesity and Gender Differences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-13, September.
    2. Farrell, Lucy C. & Warin, Megan J. & Moore, Vivienne M. & Street, Jackie M., 2016. "Socio-economic divergence in public opinions about preventive obesity regulations: Is the purpose to ‘make some things cheaper, more affordable’ or to ‘help them get over their own ignorance’?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 1-8.
    3. María Sandín Vázquez & Jesús Rivera & Paloma Conde & Marta Gutiérrez & Julia Díez & Joel Gittelsohn & Manuel Franco, 2019. "Social Norms Influencing the Local Food Environment as Perceived by Residents and Food Traders: The Heart Healthy Hoods Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-13, February.
    4. Kolodinsky, Jane M. & Battista, Geoffrey & Roche, Erin & Lee, Brian H.Y. & Johnson, Rachel K., 2017. "Estimating the effect of mobility and food choice on obesity in a rural, northern environment," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 30-39.
    5. Fernando J. Bosco & Pascale Joassart-Marcelli, 2018. "Relational space and place and food environments: geographic insights for critical sustainability research," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 8(4), pages 539-546, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anura Amarasinghe & Gerard D'Souza & Cheryl Brown & Tatiana Borisova, 2006. "A Spatial Analysis of Obesity in West Virginia," Working Papers Working Paper 2006-13, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.
    2. repec:rri:wpaper:200613 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Boncinelli, Fabio & Riccioli, Francesco & Marone, Enrico, 2015. "Do forests help to keep my body mass index low?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 11-17.
    4. Mouhcine Guettabi & Abdul Munasib, 2014. "Urban Sprawl, Obesogenic Environment, And Child Weight," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 378-401, June.
    5. Cho, Seong-Hoon & Kim, Seung Gyu & Roberts, Roland K., 2009. "Measuring the Effects of a Land Value Tax on Land Development," 2009 Annual Meeting, January 31-February 3, 2009, Atlanta, Georgia 46760, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    6. Mouhcine Guettabi & Abdul Munasib, 2014. "“Space Obesity”: The Effect of Remoteness on County Obesity," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 518-548, December.
    7. Drichoutis, Andreas C. & Lazaridis, Panagiotis & Nayga, Rodolfo M., Jr., 2009. "Body Weight Outcomes and Food Expenditures Among Older Europeans: A simultaneous equation approach," 113th Seminar, September 3-6, 2009, Chania, Crete, Greece 58010, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Ingrid Gould Ellen & Katherine O'Regan, 2010. "Welcome To The Neighborhood: How Can Regional Science Contribute To The Study Of Neighborhoods?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 363-379, February.
    9. Jessica Cook & Mallika Bose & Deborah S. Main, 2014. "Design Quality Preferences for Walking in Youth in a Rural Setting," Journal of Urban Design, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 171-188, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:1:p:142-158. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.