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Parsing the peanut panic: The social life of a contested food allergy epidemic

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  • Waggoner, Miranda R.

Abstract

As medical reports over the last decade indicate that food allergies among children are on the rise, peanut allergies in particular have become a topic of intense social debate. While peanut allergies are potentially fatal, they affect very few children at the population level. Yet, peanut allergies are characterized in medical and popular literature as a rising “epidemic,” and myriad and broad-based social responses have emerged to address peanut allergy risk in public spaces. This analysis compares medical literature to other textual sources, including media reports, legislation, and advocacy between 1980 and 2010 in order to examine how peanut allergies transformed from a rare medical malady into a contemporary public health problem. I argue that the peanut allergy epidemic was co-constructed through interactions between experts, publics, biomedical categories, and institutions, while social reactions to the putative epidemic expanded the sphere of surveillance and awareness of peanut allergy risk. The characterization of the peanut allergy problem as an epidemic was shaped by mobility across social sites, with both discursive and material effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Waggoner, Miranda R., 2013. "Parsing the peanut panic: The social life of a contested food allergy epidemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 49-55.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:90:y:2013:i:c:p:49-55
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.04.031
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lantz, Paula M. & Booth, Karen M., 1998. "The social construction of the breast cancer epidemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 46(7), pages 907-918, April.
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    3. Lauritzen, Sonja Olin, 2004. "Lay voices on allergic conditions in children: parents' narratives and the negotiation of a diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(7), pages 1299-1308, April.
    4. Rous, Trevor & Hunt, Alan, 2004. "Governing peanuts: the regulation of the social bodies of children and the risks of food allergies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 825-836, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Julia von Sommoggy & Eva-Maria Grepmeier & Janina Curbach, 2022. "Health Literacy-Sensitive Counselling on Early Childhood Allergy Prevention: Results of a Qualitative Study on German Midwives’ Perspectives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Atiim, George A. & Elliott, Susan J. & Clarke, Ann E., 2018. "“Ne nnipadua mmpe” (the body hates it): Exploring the lived experience of food allergy in Sub-Saharan Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 72-81.
    3. Berchick, Edward R., 2016. "The relationship between maternal education and reported childhood conditions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 170-179.

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