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In this article, we argue that mass media representations of obesity operate biopedagogically and, in doing so, teach viewers how to think and feel about what it means to be fat. These teachings are what we call “life lessons”—that is, lessons aimed at instructing viewers in how to relate to both their own bodies and the bodies of others—and are readily discernible in a wide variety of magazines, radio segments, and television shows. We suggest that life lessons of this sort are neither separate nor entirely distinct from public health campaigns, but rather overlap with and, at times, intensify their messages. With this in view, we undertake a four-part analysis of how the North American mass media represent obesity. In the first part, we outline contemporary theories of biopower, biocitizenship, and biopedagogy and how they can be used to make sense of these representations. In the second part, we contextualize them by providing an overview of relevant public health policy such as the United State’s Let’s Move campaign and the World Health Organization’s Prioritizing Areas for Action in the Field of Population-Based Prevention of Childhood Obesity. In the third part, we present a systematic review of the critical literature on representations of obesity with an emphasis on the North American media landscape. And in the fourth part, we submit an episode of the popular television program Nip/Tuck to an in-depth critical examination as a case study of how mass media representations of obesity function biopedagogically. In the end, we show that the representations we discuss not only reflect public health priorities but also reproduce neoliberal ideas about how to manage the life of the human body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a poststructural framework, this article critically examines how young men (13—15 years) actively fashion embodied masculine subjectivities by taking up available subject positions within discourse. The study employed semistructured focus groups and interviews with thirty-two participants from two locations in a large urban Canadian city. It is argued that young men are confronted with competing discourses of masculinity where they are simultaneously incited to work on and transform their bodies into culturally recognizable ideals, while at the same time remaining distant and aloof to the size, shape, and appearance of their bodies. Resolving this double-bind of masculinity, it is argued, remains a central task of reproducing the privileges of masculinity. This study demonstrated that young men take up, deploy, and perform discourses of normalcy, healthy active living, heterosexuality, and individualism as technologies of the self in negotiating the double-bind of masculinity. This study extends our knowledge base on the embodied experiences of young men. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Community-based and Indigenous-led health and wellness approaches have been widely advocated for Indigenous peoples. However, remarkably few Indigenous designed and led interventions exist within the field. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an Indigenous-led and community-based health and wellness intervention in a remote and rural Indigenous community. This protocol was designed by and for Indigenous peoples based on the aspirations of the community (established through sharing circles). A total of 15 participants completed a 13-week walking and healthy lifestyle counselling program (incorporating motivational interviewing) to enhance cardiometabolic health. Measures of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; 7-day accelerometry and self-report), predicted maximal aerobic power (VO2max; 6-min walk test), resting heart rate and blood pressure, and other health-related physical fitness measures (musculoskeletal fitness and body composition) were taken before and after the intervention. The intervention led to significant (p < 0.05) improvements in VO2max (7.1 ± 6.3 % change), with the greatest improvements observed among individuals with lower baseline VO2max (p < 0.05, r = -0.76). Resting heart rate, resting systolic blood pressure, and resting diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly (p < 0.05) after the intervention. Self-reported and accelerometry-measured frequency of MVPA increased significantly (p < 0.05), and the total MVPA minutes (~275 min/week) were above international recommendations. Change in VO2max was significantly correlated with change in self-reported (r = 0.42) and accelerometry-measured (r = 0.24) MVPA minutes. No significant changes were observed in weight, body mass index, waist circumference, body fat (via bioelectrical impedance), grip strength, and flexibility. These findings demonstrate that a culturally relevant and safe, community-based, Indigenous-led, health and wellness intervention can lead to significant and clinically relevant improvements in cardiometabolic health and physical activity behaviour, with the greatest changes being observed in the least active/fit individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]