Paper short abstract:

Nutritional habits have undergone huge transformations in recent decades bringing substantial changes in lifestyle. Such changes have created uneasy relationships to nutrition and the body.

Paper long abstract:

Nutrition, at least in the Western world, has been affected by what has been called "alimentary modernity. This phenomenon is understood as the transformation of what we eat - how food products are produced, distributed, prepared and consumed - as a consequence of food industrialization, economy and mass media globalization. This process has generated many changes in lifestyle affecting and stressing people of all ages, although with substantial differences depending on the context in which they operate, socioeconomic grounds, age and gender. University students live in a transitional period where they are gaining some autonomy in many decisions at the same time that several aspects of their lives are adrift. One of such issues is nutrition which generates discomfort related, to a large extent, to the relationship people have with their bodies. This article is based on a study undertook in Santiago of Chile in 2008, through qualitative methodology. It explores university student's perception of their diet focusing on their relationship with food and bodies.

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