Explaining trends in body weight

Avner Offer argues that the current increase in average body weight arises from a problem of self-control. Self-control is a central concept in Norbert Elias’ theory of civilizing processes, but Offer rejects this theory as an explanation for the trend. The author shows in this paper that Offer’s rejection of this theory is based on invalid arguments. Furthermore, considering the empirical data, she demonstrates that the new environment of abundance is not accompanied by a general decline in self-control, as Offer argues, but leads to a differentiated increase in new forms of self-control, as can be explained by Elias’ theory. Like Offer, she argues for an explanation for the trends in body weight from an anthropometric historical perspective. The starting point, however, should be social differentiation. Finally, she clarifies the concept of self-control, as this is a debated issue.