Framing action: assessing the impact of obesity framing on program design in British Columbia

The percentage of Canadians who are overweight or obese has risen dramatically in the past twenty years, prompting federal and provincial governments to take action on obesity. This thesis studies the impact of obesity framing on program design in BC. The focus of this thesis is two-fold. First, it is demonstrated how ideas and discursive processes are framing obesity as a health individualism construct. Second, it is shown how dominant obesity orthodoxy is impacting the design and creation of obesity intervention strategies in BC. It is shown that antiobesity literature has been instrumental in framing obesity as a serious health problem for which individuals are ultimately responsible. Moreover, it is argued that obesity program design in BC has centered on obesity as a health individualism construct, which has had the effect of relegating Government to a resource-base, relying on nodality-based policy instruments such as self-serve e-health resources and information campaigns.