Towards dignity in health : from health-white associations to the reclamation of racial-ethnic minority cultures of health
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- In 1948, the World Health Organization sought to define health for all peoples beyond the absence of negative symptoms (e.g., illness and disease) to include broad positive aspects (e.g., mental and social well-being), "the enjoyment of which, " it declared, "should be part of the rightful heritage of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, or economic or social condition". Over 75 years later, studies suggest Americans have not adopted this more positive and inclusive definition of health. This dissertation examines the United States' culture of health promotion and how well it resonates with the nation's rapidly growing population of racial-ethnic minority Americans. In this dissertation, I present theory and evidence suggesting that public health promotion in the U.S.--which ought to support the health and well-being of all Americans--privileges some identities and marginalizes others, often the very groups they hope to reach. Using an array of methods, I demonstrate that health and well-being is represented in inequitable ways and suggest how racial-ethnic minority Americans can reclaim a sense of being healthy that feels authentic, affirming, and regenerative of their racial and cultural identity. First, I provide evidence that being healthy is implicitly associated with White people (and being unhealthy with people of color) (Study 1a), an association that extends to health behaviors like eating a nutritious diet (Study 1b). Investigating nutrition promotion more closely, I find that associations between healthy foods and White people also manifest explicitly (Studies 2a-b), and that this conceptualization of health undermines preference for nutritious foods. In light of this problem, I develop and test intervention messaging (Study 3) that more effectively supports racial minorities as they reclaim their healthy food-ways by acknowledging diverse, nourishing culinary traditions beyond those of Euro-centric cultures that currently dominate nutrition promotion. By counteracting stigmatized narratives within healthy eating promotion and offering more affirming and agentic interpretations of health and self, this dissertation presents a critical step towards racial minority Americans reclaiming what it means to eat healthy and be well.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2023; ©2023 |
| Publication date | 2023; 2023 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Boles, Danielle Z |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Walton, Gregory M. (Gregory Mariotti) |
| Thesis advisor | Walton, Gregory M. (Gregory Mariotti) |
| Thesis advisor | Crum, Alia |
| Thesis advisor | Markus, Hazel Rose |
| Thesis advisor | Steele, Claude |
| Degree committee member | Crum, Alia |
| Degree committee member | Markus, Hazel Rose |
| Degree committee member | Steele, Claude |
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Humanities and Sciences |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Psychology |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Danielle Z. Boles. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Psychology. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2023. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/mm461pf5162 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2023 by Danielle Z. Boles
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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