My research identified and analysed ethical issues that arise and in relation to Public Health interventions to address obesity. 

As part of the Australian National Preventative Health Agency (ANPHA)-funded HealthyLaws research project, my research examined the ethical implications of the prevention of childhood obesity with the use of regulation and law.

The first chapter of this thesis focuses on whether the government is ethically justified in its identification of obesity as a public health concern. I propose that the government identification of obesity as a public health concern is an example of performative identification: it constitutes an action, and moreover it is an action of the sort that requires ethical justification. To determine if the government was ethically justified in its identification of obesity as a public health concern, I then propose three criteria by which this ought to be judged.

The second chapter closely examines the issue of weight stigma to answer the question of what ought to be done about weight stigma to improve health. To answer this question, I provide a critical review of relevant literature and develop two tools that can be utilised in a public health setting: the Spectrum of Approaches to Weight Stigma (hereafter referred to as the Spectrum) and the Matrix for Anti-Stigma Intervention Strategies (the Matrix).