Project Details

In view of increasing life expectancy and demographic change, the body weight of older people is moving into the focus of medicine and public health. At the same time, age is relevant when developing preventive obesity measures and performing bariatric surgery. Through the prevention paradigm and demands for “successful,” “active” and “healthy” ageing, age, and body norms are both confirmed and renegotiated. From an empirical-ethical perspective, the project looks at the connection between old age and high body weight (a) empirically, by exploring in which areas of the healthcare system discrimination due to old age and high body weight is reduced or increased and which resources are helpful; (b) ethically, by investigating the extent to which older people with obesity experience discrimination in the context of prevention and treatment, and by asking about criteria for fair access to salutogenic resources from a justice perspective.