You are what you eat? Vegetarianism, health and identity

Social Science and Medicine

Volumn 66, Issue 12, 2008, Pages 2585-2595

  Fox, Nick ^a   Ward, Katie J ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Body; Canada; Diet; Food; Identity; Internet; UK; USA; Vegetarian

Indexed keywords

BODY CONDITION; DIET; FOOD; THEORETICAL STUDY;

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; ARTICLE; CONTROLLED STUDY; DIET; ETHNOGRAPHY; FEMALE; GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION; HEALTH BEHAVIOR; HUMAN; IDENTITY; LIFESTYLE; MALE; VEGETARIAN DIET;

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; DIET, VEGETARIAN; FEMALE; HEALTH BEHAVIOR; HUMANS; IDENTIFICATION (PSYCHOLOGY); INTERNET; LIFE STYLE; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; VITAMINS;

CANADA; EURASIA; EUROPE; NORTH AMERICA; UNITED KINGDOM; UNITED STATES; WESTERN EUROPE;

EID: 43449098532     PISSN: 02779536     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.02.011     Document Type: Article

References (64)

1. Adams C.J. The sexual politics of meat: A feminist-vegetarian critical theory (1990), Continuum, London
2. American Dietetic Association. Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dieticians of Canada: vegetarian diets. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 103 6 (2003) 748-765
3. Beardsworth A., and Keil T. Health-related beliefs and dietary practices among vegetarians and vegans: a qualitative study. Health Education Journal 50 1 (1991) 38-42
4. Beardsworth A., and Keil T. Vegetarianism, veganism and meat avoidance: recent trends and findings. British Food Journal 93 4 (1991) 19-24
5. Beardsworth A., and Keil T. Sociology on the menu. An invitation to the study of food and society (1997), Routledge, London
6. Bedford J.L., and Barr S.I. Diets and selected lifestyle practices of self defined adult vegetarians from a population-based sample suggest that are more 'health conscious'. International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity 2 1 (2005) 4-14
7. Bisogni C.A., Connors M., Devine C.M., and Sobal J. Who we are and how we eat: a qualitative study of identities in food choice. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 34 (2002) 128-139
8. Bond R., McCrone D., and Brown A. National identity and economic development: reiteration, recapture, reinterpretation and repudiation. Nations and Nationalism 9 3 (2003) 371-391
9. Buchanan I. The problem of the body in Deleuze and Guattari, or, what can a body do?. Body & Society 3 (1997) 73-91
10. Chen P., and Hinton S.M. Realtime interviewing using the World Wide Web. Sociological Research Online 4 3 (1999). Available from
11. Connell, R. (1995). Masculinities. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
12. Coveney J. Food, morals and meaning: The pleasure and anxiety of eating (2000), Routledge, London
13. Davies B., and Harré R. Positioning and personhood. In: Harré R., and van Langenhove L. (Eds). Positioning theory (1998), Blackwell, Oxford 32-52
14. Deleuze G., and Guattari F. A thousand plateaus (1988), Athlone, London
15. Devine C.M., Connors M., Bisogni C.A., and Sobal J. Life course influences on fruit and vegetable trajectories: qualitative analysis of food choices. Journal of Nutrition Education 30 6 (1998) 361-370
16. Devine C.M., Sobal J., Bisogni C.A., and Connors M. Food choices in three ethnic groups: interactions of ideals, identities, and.roles. Journal of Nutrition Education 31, 2 (1999) 86-93
17. Douglas M. Purity and danger (1966), Routledge, London
18. Fessler D.M.T., Arguello A.P., Mekdara J.M., and Macias R. Disgust sensitivity and meat consumption: a test of an emotivist account of moral vegetarianism. Appetite 41 (2003) 312-341
19. Fox N.J. Refracting health: Deleuze, Guattari and body/self. Health 6 1 (2002) 347-364
20. Fox N.J. Cultures of ageing in Thailand and Australia. (What can an ageing body do?). Sociology 39 3 (2005) 501-518
21. Fox N.J., and Ward K. Health identities: from expert patient to resisting consumer. Health 10 4 (2006) 461-479
22. Fox N.J., and Ward K.J. Health, ethics and environment: a qualitative study of vegetarian motivations. Appetite 50 2-3 (2008) 422-429
23. Fraser G.E. Diet, life expectancy and chronic disease (2003), Oxford University Press, Oxford
24. Gaard G. Vegetarian eco-feminism: a review essay. Frontiers 23 3 (2002) 117-146
25. Giddens A. Modernity and self identity: Self and society in the late modern age (1991), Polity, Cambridge
26. Glaser J., Dixit J., and Green D.P. Studying hate crime with the Internet: what makes racists advocate racial violence?. Journal of Social Issues 58 1 (2002) 177-192
27. Hamilton M.B. Wholefoods and healthfoods: beliefs and attitudes. Appetite 20 3 (1993) 223-228
28. Haraway D.J. Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium. FemaleMale meets Oncomouse (1997), Routledge, London
29. Hewson C., Yule P., Laurent D., and Vogel C. Internet research methods (2003), Sage, London
30. Hoek A.C., Pieternel A.L., Stafleu A., and de Graaf C. Food-related lifestyle and health of Dutch vegetarians, non-vegetarian consumers of meat substitutes, and meat consumers. Appetite 42 (2004) 265-272
31. Illingworth N. The Internet matters: exploring the use of the Internet as a research tool. Sociological Research Online 6 2 (2001). Available from
32. Jabs J., Devine C., and Sobal J. Model of the process of adopting diets: health vegetarians and ethical vegetarians. Journal of Nutrition Education 30 4 (1998) 196-202
33. Jenkins R. Social identity (2004), Routledge, London
34. Kenyon P.M., and Barker M.E. Attitudes towards meat eating in vegetarians and non-vegetarian teenage girls in England - an ethnographic approach. Appetite 30 2 (1998) 185-198
35. Key T., Appleby P.N., and Rosell M.S. Health effects of vegetarian and vegan diets. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 65 (2006) 35-41
36. Kiely R., Bechhofer F., Stewart R., and McCrone D. The markers and rules of Scottish national identity. The Sociological Review 49 1 (2001) 33-55
37. Kim H.J., and Houser R.F. Two small surveys, 25 years apart, investigating motivations of dietary choice in 2 groups of vegetarians in the Boston area. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 99 5 (1999) 598-601
38. Le Breton D. Genetic fundamentalism or the cult of the gene. Body and Society 10 4 (2004) 1-20
39. Lea E., and Worsley A. Influences on meat consumption in Australia. Appetite 36 2 (2001) 127-136
40. Lea E., and Worsley A. Benefits and barriers to the consumption of a vegetarian diet in Australia. Public Health Nutrition 6 5 (2003) 505-511
41. Lindeman M., and Sirelius M. Food choice ideologies: the modern manifestations of normative and humanist views of the world. Appetite 37 (2001) 175-184
42. Monaghan L. Drug-taking, 'risk boundaries' and social identity: bodybuilders talk about Ephedrine and Nubain. Sociological Research Online 5 2 (2000). Available from
43. Negrin L. Cosmetic surgery and the eclipse of identity. Body and Society 8 4 (2002) 21-42
44. Nosek B.A., Banaji M.R., and Greenwald A.G. E-research: ethics, security, design, and control in psychological research on the Internet. Journal of Social Issues 58 1 (2002) 161-176
45. Petersen A. Replicating our bodies, losing our selves: new media portrayals of human cloning in the wake of Dolly. Body and Society 8 4 (2002) 71-90
46. Phillips F. Vegetarian nutrition. Nutrition Bulletin 30 2 (2005) 132-197
47. Pope C., Zeibland S., and Mays N. Qualitative research in health care; analysing qualitative data. British Medical Journal 320 (2000) 114-116
48. Potts A. Deleuze on viagra. (Or, what can a viagra-body do?). Body and Society 10 1 (2004) 17-36
49. Povey A., Wellens B., and Conners M. Attitudes towards following meat, vegetarian and vegan diets: an examination of the role of ambivalence. Appetite 37 (2001) 15-26
50. Riley S.C.E., and Cahill S. Managing meaning & belonging: young women's negotiation of authenticity in body art. Journal of Youth Studies 8 3 (2005) 261-279
51. Rozin P., Markwith M., and Stoess C. Moralization and becoming a vegetarian: the transformation of preferences into values and the recruitment of disgust. Psychological Science 8 (1997) 67-73
52. Santos M.L.S., and Booth D. Influences on meat avoidance among British students. Appetite 27 (1996) 197-205
53. Sneijder P., and te Molder H.F.M. 'Health should not have to be a problem': talking health and accountability in an Internet forum on veganism. Journal of Health Psychology 9 4 (2004) 599-616
54. Sobal J., Bisogni C.A., Devine C.M., and Jastran M. A conceptual model of food choice process over the life course. In: Shepherd R., and Raats M. (Eds). The psychology of food choice (2006), CABI, Wallingford 1-18
55. Tambiah S. Animals are good to think and good to prohibit. Ethnology 8 (1969) 423-459
56. Thomsen S.R., Straubaar J.D., and Bolyard D.M. Ethnomethodology and the study of online communities: exploring the cyber streets. Information Research 4 1 (1998). Available from
57. Turner J.C., and Oakes P.J. The socially structured mind. In: McGarty C., and Haslam S.A. (Eds). The message of social psychology (1997), Blackwell, Oxford
58. Twigg J. Food for thought. Purity and vegetarianism. Religion 9 (1979) 13-35
59. Vignoles V.L., Chryssochoou X., and Breakwell G.M. Distinctiveness principle: identity, meaning, and the bounds of cultural relativity. Personality and Social Psychology Review 4 4 (2000) 337-354
60. Whorton J. Historical development of vegetarianism. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 59 (1994) 1103-1109
61. Willetts A. Bacon sandwiches got the better of me: meat eating and vegetarianism in South East London. In: Caplan P. (Ed). Food, health and identity (1997), Routledge, London 111-130
62. Williams S., and Bendelow G. The lived body (1998), Routledge, London
63. Wilson S.M., Weatherall A., and Butler C. A rhetorical approach to discussions about health and vegetarianism. Journal of Health Psychology 9 4 (2004) 567-581
64. Winter-Falk L., Sobal J., Bisogni C.A., Connors M., and Devine C.M. Managing healthy eating: definitions, classifications, and strategies. Health Education and Behaviour 28 (2001) 425-439