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Article
Shame, Blame, and the Emerging Law of Obesity Control
U.C. Davis Law Review (2013)
  • Lindsay Wiley
Abstract
In using law as a tool to combat the obesity epidemic, legal scholars and policymakers are drawing heavily on the lessons of tobacco control. This Article describes the resulting emergence of "obesity control law" and argues for a radical reorientation of it from a "denormalization" strategy based on the tobacco control experience to a "destigmatization" strategy based on the HIV prevention experience. The war on obesity is nearing a political crossroads. Subsidies and food industry regulations aimed at making our environment more conducive to physical activity and healthy eating are in danger of losing out to cheaper and more politically palatable measures aimed at convincing obese individuals to lose weight without making it more feasible for them to do so.
Keywords
  • obesity,
  • tobacco control,
  • obesity control law,
  • HIV prevention,
  • war on obesity,
  • food industry regulation,
  • physical activity
Publication Date
2013
Citation Information
Lindsay Wiley. "Shame, Blame, and the Emerging Law of Obesity Control" U.C. Davis Law Review Vol. 47 (2013) p. 121 ISSN: 0197-4564
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/lindsay_wiley/23/