Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Multidisciplinary Approach to Obesity Management: A Case Report
Published on: May 30, 2025
Men's weight loss stories: How personal confession, responsibility and transformation work as social control
Danielle Couch, Gil-Soo Han1, Priscilla Robinson2
1Monash University, Australia.
Abstract:
Obesity is considered a public health concern. In Australia, there are a greater number of overweight or obese men compared with women. The media is an important source of information about body weight and weight management. We undertook a qualitative study to analyse men's weight loss stories in a popular men's magazine. Between January 2009 and December 2012, we collected 47 men's weight loss stories from the Australian edition of Men's Health magazine. We undertook thematic analysis to examine the stories. Confession, personal responsibility, appearance and transformation were key themes. The stories describe the men's self-discipline and their monitoring and tracking of their behaviours as activities which supported their weight loss. In this way, the stories promote the importance of such panoptic self-surveillance and self-discipline to the readers. We consider how such stories contribute to the wider synoptic system of media messages about body weight.
Related Concept Videos
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques VI
Motivation and Self-Determination
Motivation, the driving force behind behavior, plays a pivotal role at every stage of the change process. The research...
Obesity
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques I
Conscientiousness
Conscientious individuals tend to be organized, responsible, and disciplined. They prioritize completing tasks and following structured routines,...
Regression Toward the Mean
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison

