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Fast Food Kids: French Fries, Lunch Lines and Social Ties

Online ISBN:
9781479860135
Print ISBN:
9781479842704
Publisher:
NYU Press
Book

Fast Food Kids: French Fries, Lunch Lines and Social Ties

Amy L. Best
Amy L. Best
George Mason University
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Published:
28 February 2017
Online ISBN:
9781479860135
Print ISBN:
9781479842704
Publisher:
NYU Press

Abstract

In recent years, questions such as “What are kids eating?” and “Who's feeding our kids?” have sparked a torrent of public and policy debates as we increasingly focus our attention on the issue of childhood obesity. It is estimated that one in three American children are either overweight or obese. Enduring inequalities in communities, schools, and homes affect young people's access to different types of food, with real consequences in life choices and health outcomes. This book sheds light on the social contexts in which children eat, and the broader backdrop of social change in American life, demonstrating why attention to food's social meaning is important to effective public health policy, particularly actions that focus on behavioral change and school food reforms. The book provides narratives of the everyday life of youth, highlighting young people's voices and perspectives and the places where they eat. It provides an account of the role that food plays in the lives of today's youth, teasing out the many contradictions of food as a cultural object. The book examines the complex relationship between youth identity and food consumption, offering answers to those straightforward questions that require crucial and comprehensive solutions.

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