Serving the food nation: Assessing body mass index and self-perceived weight in the food service worker population

Ms. Woodhall’s research, the subject of this plenary, investigates the views that fast-food workers hold regarding health and eating to uncover how these workers negotiate their own food and lifestyle choices. This work draws on the body of research on the implications of proximity to fast food, fast-food work structures and the socioeconomic explanations for eating high caloric food outside of the home. The argument is that these fast-food workers participate in an internalized negotiation process to determine their food consumption patterns at work. These workers are constrained in their choices, due to socioeconomic status, time concerns and food availability at work.