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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp019w032588h
Title: The Social Construction of Diets: An Analysis of Social Influences on Dietary Habits among Princeton Varsity Athletes
Authors: Hershberger, Brooke
Advisors: Zelizer, Viviana
Department: Sociology
Class Year: 2019
Abstract: Food diets are socially constructed. Focusing on Princeton varsity athletes, this study examines how involvement in sports shapes students’ diets, the meanings attached to food and their social practices surrounding eating. This study is an analysis of how diets form and manifest amongst varsity athletes at Princeton University. Being a student-athlete constitutes an alternative college experience, shaped by four factors: Individual (preferences and biology), Social (family and peers), Physical-Environmental (accessibility and location), and Cultural (media and norms). In order to understand the individual, social, and organizational influences, it makes a comparison between current and former athletes, and finds that athletes unconsciously perform diet. Athletes have resources and social networks on campus unavailable to the general population that reinforce their mindsets surrounding diet.
URI: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp019w032588h
Access Restrictions: Walk-in Access. This thesis can only be viewed on computer terminals at the Mudd Manuscript Library.
Type of Material: Princeton University Senior Theses
Language: en
Appears in Collections:Sociology, 1954-2023

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