Food and Eating Practices During the Transition from Secondary School to New Social Contexts

Abstract

This paper examines how the new social contexts experienced by young people after leaving school are related to everyday food practices and eating habits. Findings from in-depth interviews with 31 young people aged 16–24 years studying at a college of further education in South East England are used to explore the role of new social spaces and places and their impact on young people's eating habits and routines. Young people's changing peer groups were related to the re-negotiation of food and eating practices and young people often adopted particular habits when with particular groups of peers. The consumption of alcohol, and feelings about appetite, weight and appearance, were sources of anxiety for some young people, who often felt alone and different to their peers. Young people often voiced a desire to differentiate from the food ethos present in their family home and this was sometimes related to the adoption of a vegetarian diet; some young people, however, reported being nostalgic for the ‘family food’ they ate before making the transition from school. This study shows that food and eating practices are not ordinary, mundane events in young people's lives, but an important part of dealing with the transition to new social contexts.

Notes

The author is grateful to two anonymous referees and to Steve Platt and Frank Popham for their comments on earlier versions of this paper. She would like to thank Emily Grundy for her support during this research, which was undertaken at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (University of London). The Economic and Social Research Council funded the author's work with additional funding from the Parkes Foundation. The Research Unit in Health, Behaviour and Change is funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) and NHS Health Scotland (HS). However, the opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author, not of the SEHD or NHS HS.

There are two peaks in rates of diagnosis; the other is at the time of puberty (Fombonne 1995).

Michael was the exception here; his immediate family had been vegetarian for many years and his evident pride in adopting his family's beliefs actually served to strengthen his attachment to family values