Consumption, Health, and Disposability inSpongeBob SquarePants

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-145
Author(s):  
Lorna Piatti-Farnell
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Children's Television ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Educational Structures ◽  
Pedagogical Philosophies ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Specific Food

AbstractIn recent years, food scholarship has extended its preoccupation with consumption to interrogating the relationship between eating, culture and waste, and their effects on the environment. Simultaneously, food-related concerns have also become a recurrent part of popular culture, where examples from children's television provide fertile ground for discussion. This article analyses the multiple representations of food, consumption, and waste in Stephen Hillenburg's animated seriesSpongeBob SquarePants. Focusing on the specific food-related pedagogical philosophies that seem recurrent in the series, and following in Henry Giroux's footsteps by seeing a link between popular culture and educational structures, my discussion unravels the show's engagement with the over-consumption of fast food, the acculturation of the burger as the American meal par excellence, and environmental issues of ‘over-production’. I aim to show how, ultimately,SpongeBob SquarePantsoffers an evaluation of the connection between consumption, health, and disposability in contemporary Western societies.

scholarly journals The Contribution of Food Consumption to Well-Being

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (Suppl. 2) ◽  
pp. 44-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. Holder
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Personal Strengths ◽  
The Relationship

The newly emerging field of positive psychology focuses on the positive facets of life, including happiness, life satisfaction, personal strengths, and flourishing. Research in this field has empirically identified many important benefits of enhanced well-being, including improvements in blood pressure, immune competence, longevity, career success, and satisfaction with personal relationships. Recognizing these benefits has motivated researchers to identify the correlates and causes of well-being to inform them in the development and testing of strategies and interventions to elevate well-being. As positive psychology researchers throughout the world have turned their attention toward facets of food intake, a consensus is developing that the consumption of healthy foods can enhance well-being in a dose-response fashion. The link between unhealthy foods and well-being is less clear. Some studies suggest that under certain conditions, fast food may increase happiness, though other studies demonstrate that fast food can indirectly undermine happiness. The positive impact of food consumption on well-being is not limited to what people consume but extends to how they consume it and social factors related to eating. Though the research suggests that our food intake, particularly fruits and vegetables, increases our well-being, this research is in its infancy. Research specifically focused on subpopulations, including infants and pregnant mothers, is mostly lacking, and the mechanisms that underlie the relationship between food consumption and well-being remain to be elucidated.

scholarly journals A Submersion into Black Mirror’s Nosedive

MaRBLe ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Liora Béat
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Societal Relevance ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Unique Approach ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Do So

This study is the result of a rather unique approach to the MaRBLe programme. Filed with the desire to explore the relationship between academic writings on surveillance and elements of popular culture that concern themselves with the modern dimension of surveillance, the author sought the opportunity offered by this programme to illustrate such relationship in an unedited and pedagogical way. To do so, an audio-guide companion to one of the most illustrative episodes of Black Mirror pertaining to surveillance theories, i.e. Nosedive, has been developed. This episode displays what appears to be a rather fertile ground for the illustration of surveillance theories as it unfolds in a general atmosphere where the norm is to watch, as much as being watched. This paper, in the form of a written reflective note, is thus dedicated to the emphasis of this project’s academic and societal relevance through the display of a thorough literature review on the field of surveillance theory, as well as the methodological logic behind the project.

Mothers' Income and Young Adult Children's Education and Fast Food Intake

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 681-690
Author(s):  
Jaewon Lee ◽  
Jennifer Allen
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Longitudinal Survey ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
National Longitudinal Survey ◽  
Fast Food Consumption ◽  
The Relationship

Objectives: In this study, we examine young adult children's educational attainment as a mediator in the pathway from their mother's income to their fast food consumption. Methods: The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 for Children and Young Adults (NLSY79 CY) were used to select mother and children dyads. A total of 5140 dyads were selected as the final sample. We used a mediation model to test mediators in the relationship between mother's income and young adult children's fast food consumption. Results: Mother's income was significantly related to their young adult children's educational attainment. Mother's income was negatively related to fast food consumption. This study revealed partial mediation of the relationship between mother's income and their young adult children's fast food consumption via their young adult children's educational attainment. Conclusions: A new perspective considering mother's economic resources is needed to understand children's education. Mother's income is important to cultivate their young adult children's health behaviors. The intergenerational transmission of mother's economic resources to their young adult children's educational attainment should be considered to understand young adults' fast food consumption.

Associations between grades and physical activity and food choices

2015 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia Snelling ◽  
Sarah Irvine Belson ◽  
Jonathan Beard ◽  
Kathleen Young
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
School District ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Urban School ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Urban School District ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between television viewing time, physical activity level, food consumption patterns, and academic performance of adolescents in a large urban school district in the USA where health disparities are prevalent, particularly among minority residents. Design/methodology/approach – The 2010 Youth Risk Behavior Survey was used to analyze the relationship between academic grades and physical activity patterns and food consumption in a large urban school district serving over 77,000 students. Findings – Results indicated that students who self-reported grades of As and Bs had higher levels of physical activity and less screen time compared to students who reported grades of Ds and Fs. Further, as grades decreased the consumption of soda and fast food increased. Originality/value – Higher grades track significantly with improved physical activity and lower intake of soda and fast food. These findings provide additional support for the role of regular physical activity and its positive effect on academic performance.

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