Changing the obesogenic environment: insights from a cultural economy of car reliance

The rising rate of obesity is a major public health problem in Australia and the 'obesogenic environment' is increasingly acknowledged as the most appropriate target for interventions addressing the problem. Recent research has identified car use as a potential contributor to the obesogenic environment; however, there has been little discussion of the social processes that underpin this trend. This article has a dual purpose: first, to describe a research approach to the study of obesogenic environments that improves on previous attempts by reviewing the cultural and economic dimensions of a social trend; and second, to report on the results of applying the approach to car reliance in Australia. The results provide an explanation for how and why car use has become entrenched in the daily lives of the vast majority of Australians to the point that Australia is now a car-reliant society. Moreover, the theoretically informed audit allows us to describe potential pathways linking features of the environment, such as car reliance, to health promoting or damaging practices. Our emphasis on social processes provides a useful approach for studying the social trends that make up the obesogenic environment, and should stimulate further debate, research and alternative ways of thinking about public health policy.