The Social Construction of Diets: An Analysis of Social Influences on Dietary Habits among Princeton Varsity Athletes

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.