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Community Information Starts
Nutrition
advice best served with family in mind
Researchers at the University of Sheffield and Royal
Holloway, University of London argue that the nation's
diet is unlikely to improve significantly if
healthy eating policies fail to take into account the
diverse nature of contemporary family life.
Recent government
initiatives have attempted to change people's dietary
behaviour and the amount of exercise they take. But, despite
compelling evidence of the need for healthier eating,
families remain ambivalent about altering their eating
habits.
The researchers argue that if government initiatives, such
as improving the quality of school meals or increasing the
nation's consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, are to
succeed they need to acknowledge that families have
differing domestic routines, relationships and resources and
this affects how and what they eat.
Much of the current policy literature provides factual
information on healthy eating and is aimed at individuals
rather than families. However, the researchers discovered
that decisions about what to eat aren't simply a matter of
individual choice but are instead rooted in people's diverse
family circumstances, embedded in the routines and rhythms
of their everyday lives, subject to their available
resources and shaped by their social, ethnic and religious
ties.
Most people are aware that they need to eat
'five-a-day' but many don't achieve these targets
because they are forced to act within their circumstances.
Poorer families may be acting rationally when serving
'junk' food to their children knowing that
'healthier' meals will simply go to waste. To truly
improve the nation's diet a better understanding of social
and cultural conventions is required in order to inform more
effective health advice and social policy around families
and food.
Professor Jackson of the University of Sheffield said: "If
government advice on healthy eating is to have a serious
impact, it needs to be framed within a better understanding
of the diversity of our everyday family lives.
"Policies and interventions have often looked to redress a
perceived deficit in family relationships and practices
(e.g. parenting skills). Although government policy
makes some acknowledgement of the impact of poverty and
other social factors, this often takes second place to the
'blame' culture.
"People may have been shocked to see mothers sneaking
'junk' food into schools after Jamie Oliver's high-profile
intervention but instead of turning the spotlight on them,
the government needs to look at the root causes of why
parents behave in this way."
The research provides convincing evidence that food is a
powerful lens through which to view recent changes in family
life (and vice versa). As families are changing - with fewer
and later marriages, more single-person households,
increased numbers of divorced and separated couples - so too
are food cultures. This has included the rise of
'convenience' foods, new cooking technologies and an
increased emphasis on snacking rather than formal meals.
Dr Graham Smith of Royal Holloway, University of London
added: "One of the most important changes can be found in
the ways that different generations see food and family. So,
for example, a study of a community in Bradford found that
family and food meant different things to different
generations. While the oldest generation saw food as a
reminder of a distant homeland and the family as a refuge in
a new country, the youngest celebrate their food and
families as contributing to multiculturalism."
University of Sheffield 21
Oct 2008
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