This collection investigates how the discourse surrounding the so-called obesity epidemic functions as a mechanism of biopolitical governance over human bodies. Editors Jan Wright and Valerie Harwood assemble a range of critical perspectives to examine how public health policies, media representations, and scientific rhetoric construct specific norms for health and morality. By applying Foucaultian frameworks, the contributors argue that the focus on individual weight serves to regulate populations and reinforce social hierarchies under the guise of medical necessity.

Scholars in sociology and public health recognize this work as a foundational text for those questioning the moral panic surrounding body weight. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which requires a strong background in critical theory to fully grasp the nuances of the arguments presented.