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This book is concerned with body issues in relation to a person´s profession and social class along with other socio-cultural external factors. The specific study was implemented in 2005; it investigated and compared the views of two postgraduate student groups situated in an English University. Data analysis suggested that slim´ is the good-looking´ body and healthy´ is the lifestyle, which includes physical activity and balanced diet. Moreover, the most influential external factor for the participants´ body image was the opposite sex, whereas profession was in the lower scales. In sum, the overall analysis suggested that the obesity epidemic and the spread of the thinness´ ideal have been established in the participants´ consciousness. Discourse on obesity was examined through the lenses´ of hegemony, as a discourse that is constantly negotiated and constructed.

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Foteini Papadopoulou is now a PhD Candidate at Sport Pedagogy & Physical Education Research group at Loughborough University/UK. Her research interests include Physical Education & School Sport, issues of Sociology and Sociology of Education as well as Research Methodologies.

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