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The Rise of Obesity in Europe, A Twentieth Century Food History

eds. Derek J Oddy, Peter J. Atkins and Virginie Amilien
Tenna Jensen
Bibliographical reference

Ashgate publisher, 2009.

Full text

1The publication of ‘The rise of obesity in Europe. A twentieth century Food History’ is a contribution to the vast and recent literature produced on issues of food and alimentary changes in Europe. The edited volume is based on a symposium titled “From Under-nutrition to Obesity: Changes in Food Consumption in Twentieth-Century-Europe” held in September 2007 at SIFO (National Institute for Consumer Research) in Oslo.

2The volume contains a wide range of research traditions. Many fruitful debates, perspectives and results are often created when researchers from different fields are brought together and this volume is a perfect illustration of this process. That said, the quality of the contributions unfortunately varies more than one might expect from a book which chooses to brand itself as history. It is self-evident that different traditions have different approaches: it would have been helpful to have more information given on the professional background of each contributor as this would have helped the reader to know from which scholarly tradition and disciplinary area the individual contribution originated while reading it.

3The volume is composed of an introduction, three sections and a conclusion;

4Part 1: Trends in Food Consumption and Consumer Choice.

5Part 2: Industrial and Commercial Influences on Food Consumption.

6Part 3: Social and Medical Influences.

7In the introduction and conclusion, Derek J. Oddy and Peter J. Atkins outline the theme for the reader. Despite the title it is however unclear whether the actual theme is the rise of obesity, or the nutritional transition in Europe in the 20th century (p.3. - that was the theme of the original seminar.) This uncertainty results in the construction of a direct causal relationship between food consumption and obesity. “The question posed was, in essence, how did food consumption change in Europe in the 20th century, and why are so many Europeans now overweight?” (p.223) Even though there is no doubt of the relationship between the two phenomena, the creation of a casual link of this kind between the two is problematic. “Association does not prove causation.” This is one of the main conclusions in the review of medical studies on the impact of food and exercise on weight gain by Summerbell et al. (Summerbell et al 2009). The review shows that even though there is a casual link between food and overweight among individuals, it has so far been impossible to make the direct link in large scale experiments, with the exceptions of fast food and artificial sweeteners. The complicated nature of obesity is also recognised by Derek J. Oddy and Peter J. Atkins as they emphasise the many factors of importance to the rise in average bodyweight over the century in the introduction (p.2-3). The existence of the two contradictory positions reveal that Derek J. Oddy and Peter J. Atkins are, perfectly understandably, much more at ease with the theme of food consumption than that of the multifariousness of obesity (p.6-7 and 226-232). Also the small section of the history and definition of the BMI measure would have benefited from considerations on the historicity and current scientific understandings of BMI and the change from a statistical norm over ideal to natural state (see Thoms 2009). It appears there has been a desire to frame the publication to match ongoing attention on obesity in other research fields, but the result is unfortunately somewhat confusing. The confusion could have been avoided by sticking to the original title of the seminar.

8These issues aside, the fourteen contributions offer a fascinating insight into the changing patterns of food consumption and perceptions of the body in 20th century Europe. In Part 1, the contributions from Tatiana Voronina (chapter 3), Maja Godina Golija (chapter 4) and Derek J. Oddy (chapter 5) all present interesting developments in the consumption of food in respectively Russia, Slovenia and Britain in the 20th century. Tables presented by Derek J. Oddy, for example, enable relevant and enlightening comparisons between countries on the intake of diverse foodstuffs per head and daily nutrient intake (p.62-69). The contribution by Josef Nussbaumer and Andreas Exenberger (chapter 2) focuses on the structural changes behind the nutritional transition of a distinct region, the Tyrol. They analyse the importance of mass tourism and transportation for economic growth in the region and thus for the rising food consumption from World War I to the present. Nussbaumer and Exenberger consult a range of sources in order to describe the scope of change that gives a unique insight into how rapidly the nutritional transition occurred in some parts of Europe. Their combination of personal accounts of starvation (p.16-17), newspaper articles and quantitative sources, results in a well structured and fascinating contribution.

9The various chapters in Part 2 focus on the importance and developments of the food industry as well as advertisements for food consumption in the 20th century. Developments in and of individual food products and the role of the scientific debate as well as state interference in food production and marketing are addressed. Hans Jürgen Teuteberg (chapter 6) briefly outlines the development of advertising food trademarks in Germany in the 20th century. Gloria Sanz Lafuente (Chapter 7) and Gun Roos (Chapter 8) each concentrate on aspects of food labelling in respectively Spain, from 1931 to 1975, and Norway in the twentieth century. Lafuente underlines the slow and complicated process of establishing state regulated food product labels in Spain during the turbulent decades of civil war and dictatorship, while Roos focuses more narrowly on the current Norwegian debate on simplified nutritional labelling. The latter outlines the roles and interests of the state, industry and consumers in using nutritional labelling to unify health and food and thus turn certain foods into medicine. Lafuente and Roos together visualise the diversified nature of the political and industrial developments of Europe and the consequences of these differences for the consumer.

10The last two contributions in Part 2 deal with products currently seen as having a “bad” influence on the development of the body size and health in Europe. Alain Drouard (chapter 9) shows how a food product (sugar) has been perceived as a dangerous food in scientific reports and thus blacklisted in nutritional recommendations. Drouard’s brief analysis of scientific labelling of sugar displays some of the diverging levels of knowledge and interests involved in the creation of status and meaning of individual food products at a given time. Unfortunately the contribution is too short to allow all the interesting aspects of the analysis to unfold.

11Unni Kjærnes and Runar Døving (chapter 10) analyse the efficiency and limitations of the nutrition policy of the Norwegian state. By analysing the promotion of the “matpakke” (packed lunch, p. 140) they show that the formation of food habits and consumption has been, at least to a degree, controlled by the Norwegian state. The inclusion of case studies on fat and sugar does illustrate, according to Kjærnes and Døving, that some foods have been easier to control than others due to the differing status, meaning and use of food products (p. 141).

12In Part 3, chapters are presented under the diffuse title of social and medical influences. They concern public, medical and state policy discourses on proper nutrition and bodyweight. All develop interesting perspectives on the proper body of the 20th century, and how it was to be attained and controlled.

13The contributions by Jürgen Schmidt (chapter 11), Julia Csergo( Chapter 12) and Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska (chapter 13) all stress the discourses of doctors and nutritionists on proper nutrition and body size in Germany, France and Britain. They analyse the construction of the “right” body and diet by examining nutritional advice in newspapers, medical perceptions and the advice of nutritional experts on slimming. All are thorough and well-structured and together they demonstrate three relevant perspectives on constructions of the normal and proper in the twentieth century.

14The two last chapters give important insights into the approaches of (socialist) states to rising prevalence of obesity. Martin Franc (chapter 14) describes the development in Czechoslovakia between 1950-70 while Ulrike Thoms analyses approaches of the two German states to obesity and diabetes after the Second World War. Thoms highlights the effect of the two kinds of German nutritional policy to the development of diabetes and overweight. Differences in the political perceptions of health and the role of the individual played, according to Thoms, a substantial role in the formation of health policies. The study emphasises that the, otherwise unfortunate, division of Germany has resulted in a unique cohort of genetically and culturally coherent bodies divided by politics. This division created ideal conditions for comparative studies of the impacts of politics on the body.

15In conclusion, this edited volume covers a wide range of topics. One element that binds the contributions together besides the theme(s) is the tendency to focus on the “structural” factors and authoritative sources. Many of the contributions underline the role states, policymaking and experts’ discourses play for the consumer and the conception of the body. As a result, this is presented as history “from above”. This said, it enables the reader to draw comparative insights and uncover the diversity of Europe, its nutritional transitions and bodily perceptions in a new and refreshing way. The structural focus does however draw attention to the relevance of writing history “from below” or even “from inside”. Future areas of research could be the experiences of slimming communities or the qualitative changes of food products themselves. If other approaches are always fruitful, the volume nevertheless represents a necessary contribution to the diverse history of Europe.

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Bibliography

Summerbell C.D. et al., International Journal of Obesity, Vol. 33, Issue S3 July 2009.

Thoms Ulrike, Consuming Bodies. Der Körper, im Zugriff der Wissenschaften, Fortrag Universität Bielefeld 20/21.11 2009.

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List of illustrations

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References

Electronic reference

Tenna Jensen, « The Rise of Obesity in Europe, A Twentieth Century Food History », Anthropology of food [Online], Book reviews, Online since 07 April 2010, connection on 19 May 2013. URL : http://aof.revues.org/6509

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About the author

Tenna Jensen

Ph.d-scholar; University of Copenhagen, Dept. of History

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