| 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.;Keywords: obesity; British Columbia; program design; frame analysis; obesity framing; health individualism; discourse analysis; antiobesity; fat acceptance. |
