Medical Anthropology (ANG 6737)

Yesterday we discussed the question that Wayt Gibbs posed in a recent issue of Scientific American: Is obesity an overblown epidemic? This question is also the focus of a three-part debate that took place last week in the Los Angeles Times. The LA Times pits Kelly D. Brownell, a professor of psychology and public health at Yale, against Paul F. Campos, a professor of law at the University of Colorado. Campos is featured in the Gibbs article you read, too.

This debate has also played out recently in the scholarly literature. For example, see the series of point and counterpoint articles in the February 2006 issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology. What do you make of this debate?

In class yesterday, you worked through the ways that medical anthropologists from different theoretical perspectives might approach the study of obesity. Some of you took on the role of ecological or evolutionary anthropologists; others became critical medical anthropologists; still others applied an interpretive perspective.

A recent story on NPR provides a perfect follow-up to our discussion. The story deals with the causes and consequences of dietary change on the Greek island of Crete over the last 60 years. There’s a lot to chew on (so to speak). What strikes you most about the story? How do the major theoretical perspectives we discussed apply to this case?