The last eighth of dawess book epidemic traces social and cultural causes for contemporary childhood obesity here she teases out the increasing fears of an obesity epidemic among children a claim she dates from a 1985 paper presented at the american pediatric society. This book is the first to outline a complete biography of how childhood obesity first became perceived as a disease in need of medical intervention to its classification as an epidemic in modern day america in this regard childhood obesity in america biography of an epidemic contributes to a growing body of scholarship on the cultural history of disease such as joan jacobs brumbergs history of anorexia nervosa and charles rosenbergs history of cholera epidemics. My book childhood obesity in america biography of an epidemic traces the changes in diagnosis and treatment as well as popular understanding of the most serious public health problem facing american children today excess weight was once thought to be something children outgrew or even a safeguard against infectious disease. An overweight child is now known to be at risk for maladies ranging from asthma to cardiovascular disease and obesity among american children has reached epidemic proportions childhood obesity in america traces the changes in diagnosis and treatment as well as popular understanding of the most serious public health problem facing american children today. Obesity among american children has reached epidemic proportions laura dawes traces changes in diagnosis treatment and popular conceptions of the most serious health problem facing american children today and makes the case that understanding the cultural history of a disease is critical to developing effective public health policy