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Implications of structure and power
The classification, causes and lived experiences of obesity can also be understood by analysing globalisation and the interconnected impacts of colonisation, industrialisation, embedded social structures and economies. The social, political and economic relationships of globalisation on food supply has resulted in structural unequal access to nutrition; leading to undernutrition, obesity and social inequality. Food supply and consumerism is subject to dynamic regulation, ideology, and symbolism which overtime persuade and control the ways in which societies and individuals do, and are able to consume foods. Therefore, to conclude that being 'obese' is only an individual persons issue, is to dismiss and oversimplify global and social influences.

Processes of colonisation and globalisation have impacted significantly upon lifestyles and diets of Indigenous people worldwide and in certain populations, these changes have resulted in high rates of non-communicable diseases including obesity. Colonisation has had a detrimental impact on the health of First Nations people in developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Globalisation and post-colonial impacts have also affected the health of Indigenous people in lesser developed countries and regions. While there are some similarities in Indigenous people’s experiences of colonisation and globalisation, the epidemiology of obesity varies between different Indigenous populations. Attempts to explain high rates of obesity in some Indigenous populations include “theories of genetic or phenotypic maladaptation to new environmental conditions, which posit that the ecological context has changed around a population which has remained largely static and passive”. However, Indigenous people have not remained static or passive through colonisation and globalisation rather societal changes have occurred culturally, socially and geographically. A common experience has been the disruption of traditional Indigenous diets which have provided a variety of seasonably available nutritious foods. Some medical scholars argue that “food related illnesses, such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease, are non-existent in hunter gatherer communities around the world”. As such, the dispossession of Indigenous people from their lands, and the social, economic and political factors that privilege dominant Western food practices all contribute to obesity.

An anthropological view on obesity can be explained by three fundamental facts, "gender dimorphism, an increase with modernization, and a positive association with socioeconomic status". Globalization has seen an increase in economic growth and thus modernization throughout the globe, which in turn has led to the development of ‘fast-food culture. Within the last two decades the abundance of fast-food restaurants has been greatly increased, in the UK alone fast-food outlets had expanded by 45% from 1990 to 2008. Multiple studies have shown that the availability of fast-food restaurants is a key component to the increasing trend of obesity worldwide due to the low cost and convenience. This can have detrimental health impacts for those especially of low socio-economic status. Several studies have found that those of low socio-economic status have a greater exposure to ‘fast-food culture’ and are more likely to consume fast food than those of a higher socio-economic status. This is particularly due to price as unhealthy foods, including fast-food were found to be three times less expensive than food that is considered ‘healthy’. The convenience and low cost of fast-food restaurants has led to an increase in unhealthy eating habits resulting in higher rates of obesity.

Since the size and shape of human bodies are subject to cultural interpretation, they are evaluated according to their cultural context. Bodies can become powerfully symbolic of cultural values and are therefore shaped by cultural forces. Contemporary Western culture typically sees the body as separate from and subordinate to the self, and consequently able to be developed and controlled with sufficient effort and willpower. Critical scholarship argues that contemporary discourse on obesity acts as an expression of biopower, seeking to discipline bodies into conformity while simultaneously regulating the life of entire populations. According to Greenhalgh, social acceptance and merit are awarded to those “thin, fit biocitizens” who possess a desired body shape. Furthermore, good biocitizens are expected to become “active agents of the campaign” who encourage or shame others into striving for a similar body shape. Conversely, those who do not match these standards are presumed to be lacking in self-control and less worthy of participation in society. A number of scholars  have noted that public health efforts to reduce obesity are typically aimed at entire populations rather than those deemed to be at high risk. They regulate and police the boundaries of normalcy, aiming to change behaviour at the societal level. Obese bodies become examples warning of the risks of deviance, rather than a focus for medical concern.

Many scholars challenge a purely biomedical understanding of obesity and suggest that the link between obesity and disease is more tenuous than has been portrayed by health messaging and popular media. Jantina de Vrie argues that the biomedical preoccupation with obesity is a result of the tendency to medicalise behaviour that we find to be undesirable or morally unacceptable. This moral subtext impacts the way in which scientific research is designed and undertaken, as well as the way it is interpreted. This has resulted in a gradual shift from obesity being thought of as a risk factor for several diseases, to it being considered a disease itself. Brewis and colleagues suggest that many of the adverse health issues related to body size are not because larger bodies are intrinsically diseased, but rather stem from the negative stresses related to the stigma of being obese. This stigma can manifest as structural exclusion: too-small seating in airlines and restaurants, difficulty navigating narrow public places and car parks, for example, or directly, in the form of negative sentiments from unsympathetic people. Stigma causes adverse health outcomes from ongoing, long-term stress, and often produces discriminatory exclusion from health care. The existing discourse on obesity could benefit from a more nuanced understanding of the lived, embodied experience of obese individuals, and the broader context in which they live.