PRESENTER AT A Better Body? Towards a Sociology of Health Symposium

Dietary and fitness trends continue to attract attention and conflict with evidence-based advice endorsed by government-led initiatives. These trends are amplified through social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok that promote an ideal state of being healthy that the layperson can achieve through rigorous commitment and investment. My research project aims to explore the role of digital technologies among women aged 18-35 living in Australia to uncover the factors that influence health and food-related decisions. I integrate a traditional public health model with a sociomaterialism framework to analyse contemporary health and food-related domains as they present the affective forces that support and reproduce normative ideals of embodiment, self-responsibility and food consumption.

While this presentation focuses on early findings from the field, qualitative fieldwork with 70 women between March to August 2021 points to the micro-political encounters and affective forces that surface for women when making health and food-related decisions. The changing nature of our lives primarily impacts these patterns of behaviour through an increased reliance on online activity such as streaming services, online shopping, and home offices becoming a permanent part of the labour market. Most notably, the growing dependence on these technologies raises questions on the ability to promote nutritional science that supports human health and disease prevention.