In Biomedicine, Thin Is Still In: Obesity Surveillance among Racialized, (Im)migrant, and Female Bodies

Syed, Iffath Unissa

doi:10.3390/soc9030059

Cited by 14 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…55 Roberta Timothy highlights how the media participated in the erasure of how a few of these Muslim victims were also racialized Blacks. 56 Many policies of inaction have contributed to various social and health inequalities, including the income inequality gap between racialized and non-racialized groups 9,31 . Some researchers argue that the state is non-neutral in the essentialization of Others because it constantly stereotypes Third World immigrants as criminals, terrorists, and fundamentalists, and in doing so, it manages to both manipulate and cancel its alleged dedication to multiculturalism 6 .…”

Section: Current Trends In the Othering Of Racialized Peoples And Musmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, it is argued that the problem of obesity raises moral dilemmas that are based on 'Euro-Canadian' values and norms, 29 and thin bodies reflect docile, obedient, restrained, controlled 'middle-class whiteness', 30 while casting heavy bodies as a problematic Other. 31 Those norms and values are often rigid (ibid), and render invisible structural factors such as racism, poverty, distress, duress, and colonialism, 32,33 and seldom do those perceptions change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hijab, niqab, and the religious symbol debates: consequences for health and human rights

Syed

2020

The International Journal of Human Rights

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Recently there has been a rise in state surveillance of racialized persons, immigrants, and religious minorities. While there is abundant literature that discusses the discourses of security and concerns over international terrorism, as well as acculturation and accommodation, little is known about how some of these public policies and practices intersect with human rights, health, and wellbeing. This paper seeks to illuminate the health and human rights consequences of policies about the hijab and niqab, including bans on religious symbols in public workplaces. This work is guided by interdisciplinary health, social justice, and antiracism frameworks, and it explores the human rights concerns of policies that may be used to justify surveillance and control over racialized people, migrants, and their cultural practices. Various countries have increasingly expanded their surveillance of immigrant people from South Asia and the Middle East, especially Arabs, Central and South Asians, Africans, and Muslims. These groups have been experiencing racism at their places of worship, borders, ports of entry, and at airports. 1 Many governments, including the provincial government of Quebec from within Canada, have introduced policy interventions aimed at persons displaying religious symbols, which I argue have undermined the human rights and well-being of affected groups.

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Section: Current Trends In the Othering Of Racialized Peoples And Musmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hijab, niqab, and the religious symbol debates: consequences for health and human rights

Syed

2020

The International Journal of Human Rights

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“…As indicated by Magnavita [23]; workplace health promotion programs are designed so that they can help workers become more skilled in managing their chronic conditions; and proactive in their health-care by improving their lifestyles, quality of diet, and physical activity, among other things. Given that there is an increasing body of evidence which supports that employment and working conditions contribute to health problems previously considered unrelated to work, such as obesity [21,30,46], metabolic syndrome [22,25], cardiovascular disease [20], sleep disorders [5,17,24], and depression [40], this study aimed to explore a new and under-researched area of health behaviors in high-stress, high-turnover work environments, such as in the long term care (LTC) sector.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet, physical activity, and emotional health: what works, what doesn’t, and why we need integrated solutions for total worker health

Syed

2020

BMC Public Health

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Background: Current research advocates lifestyle factors to manage workers' health issues, such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type II diabetes mellitus, among other things (World Health Organization (WHO) Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic, 2000; World Health Organization (WHO) Obesity and overweight, 2016), though little is known about employees' lifestyle factors in high-stress, high turnover environments, such as in the long term care (LTC) sector. Methods: Drawing on qualitative single-case study in Ontario, Canada, this paper investigates an under-researched area consisting of the health practices of health care workers from high-stress, high turnover environments. In particular, it identifies LTC worker's mechanisms for maintaining physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. Results: The findings suggest that while particular mechanisms were prevalent, such as through diet and exercise, they were often conducted in group settings or tied to emotional health, suggesting important social and mental health contexts to these behaviors. Furthermore, there were financial barriers that prevented workers from participating in these activities and achieving health benefits, suggesting that structurally, social determinants of health (SDoH), such as income and income distribution, are contextually important. Conclusions: Accordingly, given that workplace health promotion and protection must be addressed at the individual, organizational, and structural levels, this study advocates integrated, total worker health (TWH) initiatives that consider social determinants of health approaches, recognizing the wider socio-economic impacts of workers' health and wellbeing. What is already known about this subject?Current research advocates lifestyle factors to manage health issues of workers, such as managing obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type II diabetes mellitus, among other things [50,51], though little is known about employees' lifestyle factors in high-stress, high turnover environments, such as in the long term care (LTC) sector. What are the new findings?The findings suggest that LTC workers typically maintained health and wellbeing through self-care measures conducted in group settings or tied to proxies of relaxation and emotional health, however, a few indicated that finances were barriers to practicing healthy behaviors.

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“…Due to rapid social change, dietary transitions, decreased physical activities, and exposure to new environmental hazards in the Arctic, these negative increases happen in particular in traditional societies. In this context, the Sami people differ from other circumpolar Indigenous groups—with a risk pattern of uncommunicable diseases similar to the one of the majority population of the Nordic countries [ 21 , 22 , 23 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change in the Arctic—The Need for a Broader Gender Perspective in Data Collection

Rautio

Kukarenko

Evengård

2021

IJERPH

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Climate change in the Arctic affects both environmental, animal, and human health, as well as human wellbeing and societal development. Women and men, and girls and boys are affected differently. Sex-disaggregated data collection is increasingly carried out as a routine in human health research and in healthcare analysis. This study involved a literature review and used a case study design to analyze gender differences in the roles and responsibilities of men and women residing in the Arctic. The theoretical background for gender-analysis is here described together with examples from the Russian Arctic and a literature search. We conclude that a broader gender-analysis of sex-disaggregated data followed by actions is a question of human rights and also of economic benefits for societies at large and of the quality of services as in the health care.

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In Biomedicine, Thin Is Still In: Obesity Surveillance among Racialized, (Im)migrant, and Female Bodies

Cited by 14 publications

References 86 publications

Hijab, niqab, and the religious symbol debates: consequences for health and human rights

Hijab, niqab, and the religious symbol debates: consequences for health and human rights

Diet, physical activity, and emotional health: what works, what doesn’t, and why we need integrated solutions for total worker health

Climate Change in the Arctic—The Need for a Broader Gender Perspective in Data Collection

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