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Racializing narratives: Obesity, diabetes and the "Aboriginal" thrifty genotype

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  • Fee, Margery

Abstract

This post-colonial reading of narratives of obesity, diabetes, and the hypothesized "thrifty genotype" ascribed to Aboriginal peoples shows how scientific and popular texts support the belief in biological "race." Although the scientific consensus is that "race" is not a empirical category, many scientists use it without comment as a "crude proxy" for presumed genetic differences. The division between science and the social sciences/humanities protects such confusing practices from full scientific and social critique, something interdisciplinary research teams, science studies and improved peer review could provide.

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  • Fee, Margery, 2006. "Racializing narratives: Obesity, diabetes and the "Aboriginal" thrifty genotype," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 2988-2997, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:12:p:2988-2997
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. McDermott, Robyn, 1998. "Ethics, epidemiology and the thrifty gene: biological determinism as a health hazard," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1189-1195, November.
    2. Krieger, N., 2003. "Does racism harm health? Did child abuse exist before 1962? On explicit questions, critical science, and current controversies: An ecosocial perspective," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(2), pages 194-199.
    3. Green, Chris & Hoppa, Robert D. & Young, T. Kue & Blanchard, J. F., 2003. "Geographic analysis of diabetes prevalence in an urban area," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 551-560, August.
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    1. Reanne Frank, 2015. "Back to the Future? The Emergence of a Geneticized Conceptualization of Race in Sociology," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 661(1), pages 51-64, September.
    2. McPhail, Deborah & Chapman, Gwen E. & Beagan, Brenda L., 2011. ""Too much of that stuff can't be good": Canadian teens, morality, and fast food consumption," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 301-307, July.
    3. Ramraj, Chantel & Shahidi, Faraz Vahid & Darity, William & Kawachi, Ichiro & Zuberi, Daniyal & Siddiqi, Arjumand, 2016. "Equally inequitable? A cross-national comparative study of racial health inequalities in the United States and Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 19-26.
    4. Bombak, Andrea E. & McPhail, Deborah & Ward, Pamela, 2016. "Reproducing stigma: Interpreting “overweight” and “obese” women's experiences of weight-based discrimination in reproductive healthcare," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 94-101.
    5. Lesley Gray, 2017. "Social Determinants of Health, Disaster Vulnerability, Severe and Morbid Obesity in Adults: Triple Jeopardy?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-10, November.

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