Involvement in an obesity prevention programme: relations to norms and differentiated appropriations

Abstract

Preventing obesity has become a major public health issue. Thus, for several years now, health-enhancing physical activity programmes have been offered to students whose body mass index is greater than or equal to 30. By combining medical, dietetic, sports and psychological follow-up, the students are invited to engage in this effort “to get out of obesity”. But how is this commitment experienced? The article reports on the expectations expressed from the students about the health-enhancing physical activity programme, which are sometimes in relation with health reasons and sometimes with aesthetic reasons. The paper also proposes, through the example of two beneficiaries, to underline the existence of differentiated forms of appropriation of the injunctions to return to a “normal” weight. The collection of several interviews over a period of about two years with students participating in such a programme allows us to better understand the differentiated appropriations.