Why does our appetite for food pleasures make us feel anxious? This fresh and updated edition traces our complex relationship with food and eating, along with our preoccupation with diet, self-discipline and food guilt. 'A strong contribution to the sociological understanding of food and its relation to social life has been made even stronger in this new edition. Of particular value are Coveney's additions to his discussions of food morality in the context of Foucaultian notions of governmentality, especially in the new chapter on the governmentality of girth.'- Alex McIntosh, Professor of Sociology and Member, Faculty of Nutrition, Texas A&M University Understanding the complex juxtapositions of the enjoyment and the pain we derive from food is the core business of John Coveney's fascinating work?This book is a 'must read' for anyone interested in the social meanings of eating. - Dr Karen Campbell, School of Exercise and Nutrition, Deakin University, Australia In this major contribution to the food sociology literature, John Coveney insightfully applies a Foucaultian analysis to expose the multifarious ways in which the government of parental and child conduct is enacted. This book is highly relevant for those in the fields of childhood nutrition, health promotion, dietetics, and food sociology. - John Germov, The University of Newcastle Co-editor of A Sociology of Food and Nutrition: The Social Appetite (2004)