Neoliberalism has been described as a political and economic theory that proposes \"human well-being can best be advanced by liberating... freedoms...within an institutional framework [of]...strong private property rights [and] free markets.... [I]f markets do not exist (...such as in... health care) then they must be created, by state action if necessary.\" I would argue that the \"Obesity Epidemic\" is just such a created Neoliberal market, and in fact does not actually exist as an \"epidemic.\" By changing the computation of BMI (Body Mass Index) in 1998, the federal government created the \"Obesity Epidemic\" by definitional fiat, despite myriad contradictory evidence
","abstract_html":"<p>Neoliberalism has been described as a political and economic theory that proposes "human well-being can best be advanced by liberating... freedoms...within an institutional framework [of]...strong private property rights [and] free markets.... [I]f markets do not exist (...such as in... health care) then they must be created, by state action if necessary." I would argue that the "Obesity Epidemic" is just such a created Neoliberal market, and in fact does not actually exist as an "epidemic." By changing the computation of BMI (Body Mass Index) in 1998, the federal government created the "Obesity Epidemic" by definitional fiat, despite myriad contradictory evidence</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Rubinstein, Dianne"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master","degree_discipline":"Liberal Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Hester Eisenstein"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-06-03T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-06-03T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:00:04Z","subjects":["Women's Studies","neoliberalism","obesity epidemic","diet industry","media industry","obesity industrial complex","sugar industry"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/277","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Hester Eisenstein"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Rubinstein, Dianne"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2001-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Liberal Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Women's Studies","neoliberalism","obesity epidemic","diet industry","media industry","obesity industrial complex","sugar industry"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/277"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Neoliberalism has been described as a political and economic theory that proposes \"human well-being can best be advanced by liberating... freedoms...within an institutional framework [of]...strong private property rights [and] free markets.... [I]f markets do not exist (...such as in... health care) then they must be created, by state action if necessary.\" I would argue that the \"Obesity Epidemic\" is just such a created Neoliberal market, and in fact does not actually exist as an \"epidemic.\" By changing the computation of BMI (Body Mass Index) in 1998, the federal government created the \"Obesity Epidemic\" by definitional fiat, despite myriad contradictory evidence
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Neoliberalism and the \"Obesity Epidemic\""]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Hester Eisenstein"],"dc:creator":["Rubinstein, Dianne"],"dc:date.available":["2001-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Neoliberalism has been described as a political and economic theory that proposes \"human well-being can best be advanced by liberating... freedoms...within an institutional framework [of]...strong private property rights [and] free markets.... [I]f markets do not exist (...such as in... health care) then they must be created, by state action if necessary.\" I would argue that the \"Obesity Epidemic\" is just such a created Neoliberal market, and in fact does not actually exist as an \"epidemic.\" By changing the computation of BMI (Body Mass Index) in 1998, the federal government created the \"Obesity Epidemic\" by definitional fiat, despite myriad contradictory evidence
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/277"],"dc:subject":["Women's Studies","neoliberalism","obesity epidemic","diet industry","media industry","obesity industrial complex","sugar industry"],"dc:title":["Neoliberalism and the \"Obesity Epidemic\""],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Liberal Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:00:04Z"}