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Women Defining Health: Food, Diet and Body Image
Abstract
This article explores the relationship between gender and food through analysing data obtained from a series of women-only discussion groups, the participants of which explored self definitions of the term 'health'. What is distinct about this data, collected in the North East of England, is the clear link respondents perceive between food, diet and health. However, due to a number of factors such a knowledge may not result in dietary and ultimately bodily change. The many implications of such findings for health education are outlined in the discussion section of the paper.
... D'autres études menées auprès de personnes âgées (65 ans et plus) indiquent que l'importance des légumes et des fruits ne semble pas varier en fonction de l'âge 13,28 . Cette importance ne semble pas avoir varié considérablement non plus avec le temps, étant donné que certaines études publiées il y a 20 ans rapportaient également que les légumes et les fruits étaient perçus comme une composante essentielle de la saine alimentation 29,30 . ...
... Ainsi, les femmes mentionnent plus souvent les légumes et les fruits en tant que composantes d'une saine alimentation 15 . En outre, ces aliments sont perçus comme convenant mieux aux femmes 28,31 . Ces constatations appuient l'hypothèse d'une différence entre les sexes relativement aux légumes et aux fruits 4,32 . ...
... Certaines autres caractéristiques non associées à la composition des aliments, telles que la fraîcheur, influençaient aussi les perceptions des gens à l'égard de la saine alimentation 6,8,14,15,28,34,37 . Dans de nombreuses études, les participants expliquaient le concept de fraîcheur en opposant les aliments frais aux aliments en conserve, congelés ou transformés. ...
... Previous qualitative research offers preliminary data about external and organismic influences on dietary change as identified in the SORC model. External influences in mainly young to middle-aged subjects have included advertising and other mass media (8,9), food costs, and lack of time (9 -12). Family influences on middle-aged and older women's eating behavior have included controlling husbands (13) and responsibility to provide satisfying and tasty food to their families (8 -10). ...
... Cognitive strategies of successful young and middle-aged weight losers included coming to terms with being overweight and making a decision to lose weight (13), changing perspective (14), and using mental self-monitoring (15). In young to middle-aged samples, negative selfimage and a desire to lose weight and improve appearance were strong motivators (9,(12)(13)(14)(15). However, in one of the few available age comparisons, when adults over 55 were compared with younger respondents in a large health behavior survey (18), older adults were less likely than younger respondents to describe efforts to change their eating behavior. ...
... The external and organismic influences on dietary behavior in these women resemble those of younger groups in previous studies (8,9,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). Available information, perceived family needs and life burdens, cultural patterns and traditions, emotional upsets, and physical reactions to dieting were reported in prior qualitative research (8 -13, 16, 17) as well as in quantitative research (26), as were cognitive strategies of changing perspective (14), monitoring intake, and selftalk to encourage adherence or legitimize slips (15,27). ...
Most studies of dietary change during aging have focused on maintaining adequate intake by impaired elderly, and little is known about factors affecting dietary change for preventive purposes in older individuals. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the major behavioral influences on older women's adherence to a dietary fat reduction intervention.
A diverse sample of 92 women aged 55 to 80 was recruited from two East Coast sites of the Women's Health Initiative. All the women were participating in the dietary modification arm of WHI, had received the same dietary instruction, and were in the maintenance phase of the intervention. The women were classified by nutritionists as adherent or nonadherent to a diet limiting fat intake to <20% of total calories. Focus groups and telephone interviews were conducted, and textual data were coded and sorted using content analysis techniques within the four categories of the Stimuli-Organismic Factors-Response Repertoire-Consequences (SORC) behavioral model. Frequencies of responses within categories were tabulated and compared qualitatively.
Adherent women were more likely to report assertiveness, a lifelong commitment to reduced dietary fat, satisfaction with their lifestyle changes, and having applicable knowledge and skills. Nonadherent women reported more difficulty resisting negative emotions and prior food preferences and habits; they were also more concerned about negative responses from others.
Enhancing adherence of older women to a dietary fat reduction program will require shifting priorities away from conforming to social pressure and using high-fat foods for personal satisfaction and moving toward enhancing motivation and commitment to long-term health.
... Studies that included older respondents, persons over 65 years of age, did not find that the importance of vegetables and fruits to healthy eating varied according to age. 13,28 In addition, the importance of vegetables and fruits does not seem to have changed much with time, as a few older studies, published 20 years ago, also reported that vegetables and fruits were perceived to be an essential part of a healthy diet. 29,30 However, a few studies 15,28,31 suggested that gender influenced the perception of vegetables and fruits. ...
... 13,28 In addition, the importance of vegetables and fruits does not seem to have changed much with time, as a few older studies, published 20 years ago, also reported that vegetables and fruits were perceived to be an essential part of a healthy diet. 29,30 However, a few studies 15,28,31 suggested that gender influenced the perception of vegetables and fruits. Women mentioned vegetables and fruits more often as part of a healthy diet, 15 and these foods were perceived to be more suited to women. ...
... Women mentioned vegetables and fruits more often as part of a healthy diet, 15 and these foods were perceived to be more suited to women. 28,31 These findings support the notion of gender differences in attitudes to vegetables and fruits. 4,32 In her book, Lupton 4 suggests that light, sweet, soft-textured foods and foods that are easy to digest are associated with women, whereas meat and foods that are harder to digest are associated with men. ...
To effectively promote and support healthy eating among Canadians, there needs to be a better understanding of the factors that influence eating behaviours. Perceptions of healthy eating can be considered as one of the many factors influencing people's eating habits. For this review, "perceptions of healthy eating" are defined as the public's and health professionals' meanings, understandings, views, attitudes and beliefs about healthy eating, eating for health, and healthy foods. This article's aim is to review and summarize the literature on the perceptions of healthy eating and to identify the current state of knowledge and key knowledge gaps. Databases, the worldwide web, selected journals and reference lists were searched for relevant papers from the last 20 years. Reviewed articles suggest relative homogeneity in the perceptions of healthy eating despite the studies being conducted in different countries and involving different age groups, sexes and socio-economic status. Perceptions of healthy eating were generally based on food choice. Fruits and vegetables were consistently recognized as part of healthy eating. Characteristics of food such as naturalness, and fat, sugar and salt contents were also important in people's perceptions of healthy eating. Concepts related to healthy eating, such as balance, variety and moderation, were often mentioned, but they were found to be polysemous, conveying multiple meanings. The main gap identified in this review concerns the lack of knowledge available on perceptions of healthy eating. More data are needed on the perceptions of healthy eating in general, on the influence on perceptions of messages from diverse sources such as food companies, and, most important, on the role of perceptions of healthy eating as a determinant of food choice.
... Families exert a strong external in¯uence on diet. Women are much more likely than men to prepare main meals and shop (Warde and Hetherington, 1994), but describe little control over what is eaten, and a need to juggle the tastes of their husbands and children (Charles and Kerr, 1988;McKie et al., 1993). Marshall's study (Marshall, 1995) demonstrates how foods which are not objectionable to any family member are chosen, resulting in a narrow and repetitive range of fruit and vegetables. ...
... In our small qualitative study it was only male partners who were described as obstructing the attempt to eat more fruit and vegetables, while men believed that their female partners would support the change. This may be because of the role that women take in providing nourishment and looking after the health of the family (Charles and Kerr, 1988;McKie et al., 1993). Another explanation is that vegetables and fruits are viewed as feminine foods. ...
This qualitative study compares the barriers to eating more fruit and vegetables reported before and after participation in a 6-month randomized controlled trial in primary care. At the initial intervention appointment of a primary care intervention to promote eating five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day, participants were asked to identify the barriers that they thought they might encounter. Barriers were discussed again at the final appointment 6 months later. At the end of the study, a purposive sample of 40 of the trial participants was interviewed to explore their experiences in greater detail. Transcripts of tape recordings of the intervention appointments and the semi-structured interview were analysed using qualitative methods. This paper presents the results of a qualitative analysis of these appointment and interview transcripts (results of the trial are published elsewhere). Women reported that children and male partners were obstructive to their attempts to eat more fruit and vegetables, whilst men reported that their partners were supportive of the change. The perception that fruit and vegetables were expensive was a relatively intractable barrier for those with inflexible food budgets. Some barriers, including the problem of getting fruit and vegetables when travelling or when the daily routine is disrupted such as at weekends, were not anticipated and only encountered when participants tried to make changes. However, while all but three of the interview respondents described experiencing at least one barrier to eating more fruit and vegetables, three quarters (29 of 40) reported an increase in intake of between one and five daily portions. This study adds to the existing literature in that it investigates those barriers that were reported at the end of, as well as before, a 6-month trial of a dietary intervention. The findings show that trial participants were not always able to anticipate what might be a barrier to change at the initial intervention appointment. The flexible action plan meant that if participants found their initial plan hard to maintain, they were able to adapt it rather than give up. This suggests that health behaviour interventions that are negotiated and non-prescriptive may be more successful than those that are relatively inflexible.
... Preferences for low-over high-calorie foods have been reported in previous studies with young women (Meule, Kübler, & Blechert, 2013). This is in line with reports that women are generally concerned about the healthiness of foods (McKie, Wood, & Gregory, 1993), and that the majority of women in Western societies is dissatisfied with their body image (Rodin, Silberstein, & Striegel-Moore, 1984). Chronically restricting food intake to influence weight and shape is termed restrained eating (Herman & Mack, 1975). ...
Background
Negative mood often triggers binge eating in bulimia nervosa (BN). We investigated motivational salience as a possible underlying mechanism using event-related potentials (ERPs) as indicators of motivated attention allocation (P300) and sustained processing (LPP).
Methods
We collected ERPs (P300: 350–400 ms; LPP: 600–1000 ms) from 21 women with full-syndrome or partially remitted BN and 21 healthy women (HC), matched for age and body mass index. Idiosyncratic negative and neutral situations were used to induce corresponding mood states (counterbalanced), before participants viewed images of high- and low-calorie foods and neutral objects, and provided ratings for pleasantness and desire to eat.
Results
P300 was larger for foods than objects; LPP was largest for high-calorie foods, followed by low-calorie foods, then objects. The BN group showed an increased desire to eat high-calorie foods under negative mood and stronger mood induction effects on ERPs than the HC group, with generally reduced P300 and a small increase in LPP for high-calorie foods. Effects were limited to circumscribed electrode positions. Exploratory analyses showed clearer effects when comparing high vs. low emotional eaters.
Conclusion
We argue that negative mood decreased the availability of cognitive resources (decreased P300) in BN, thereby facilitating disinhibition and food cravings (increased desire-to-eat ratings). Increased sustained processing might be linked to emotional eating tendencies rather than BN pathology per se, and reflect approach motivation, conflict, or regulatory processes. Negative mood appears to induce complex changes in food image processing, whose understanding may contribute to the development of tailored interventions in the future.
... In Study 3, less affectively loaded judgments were tested: Participants judged the relative healthiness of different food items. Judgments of healthiness/unhealthiness of food have been shown to be far removed from judgments of liking for these foods (McKie, Wood, & Gregory, 1993;Wardle, 1993). Here too, as in Study 2, participants themselves selected the group of items that served as the comparison group. ...
People are frequently required to judge how particular group members measure up against others in their group. According to the local-comparisons - general-standards (LOGE) approach, in these member-to-group comparisons, people fail to use the normatively appropriate local (group) standard and are infelicitously affected by a more general standard (involving instances from outside the judged group). Within positive groups, target group members are judged superior to the other members of the group, and within negative groups, inferior. To date, these nonselective superiority and inferiority biases have been demonstrated solely in judgments about human beings. In 6 experiments, nonselective biases were found in perceptual, affective, and cognitive judgments of nonhuman targets, objects, and concepts, thus supporting a cognitive rather than a social account.
... I empiriska studier har det framkommit att det finns motdiskurser eller utmanare till det smala kroppsidealet. I en brittisk studie ombads kvinnor i fokusgrupper att diskutera "vad hälsa betyder för dem" ( McKie, Wood, Gregory 1993). Deltagarna kopplade samman matkonsumtion med hälsa och gav uttryck för att hälsa kan uppnås genom att "äta de rätta sakerna". ...
... Crotty's argument, which is supported by others (see, e.g. McKie et al., 1993), is that the scientific and authoritarian rules which underpin many modem public health nutrition programmes are symptomatic of a dominant medical culture, which as well as being moralistic, sexist and class prejudiced, is highly fallible to boot. For example, current theories which encourage the reduction of fat in the population's diet are based on studies which exclude women, the elderly and children. ...
A debate about the ethics of health promotion recently appeared in this journal. While the papers involved provided a number
of new insights into this area, they appeared to stop short of many possibilities. In particular, the dismissal of the relevance
of the work of Foucault in this area prevented another line of inquiry opening up. This paper provides a fuller explication
of Foucault's relevance of ethics and health promotion. It draws attention to the way health promotion produces subjects,
especially choosing subjects. Using nutrition promotion as an example, it highlights the way that various positions in health
promotion—which on the surface appear to be at odds with each other—can in fact be seen to be part of the same project: that
of producing self-regulating subjects. The paper concludes by stressing that health promotion provides an ethics, in a Foucauldian
sense, by producing the means by which subjects assess their own desires, attitudes and conducts in relation to those set
out by health promotion expertise.
... An explanation can be found in the congruence with ideas about healthy eating and ideas about slimming. Food most frequently mentioned as being healthy are those which women say they eat when they are on a diet (Charles and Kerr, 1988; McKie et al, 1993). 'To lose weight' is an important motive for women and girls to eat more healthy, or at least to show little resistance towards healthy eating. ...
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the perceived reactions of the adolescent, mother, father and brother/sister on the introduction of healthy food into the family. Subjects were 328 adolescents between 12 and 22 years of age. Twenty classes were included in the study, five classes chosen randomly for each grade level. Four hypothetical situations were submitted to the adolescent representing a family member trying to introduce healthy food into the family. The findings provide support for the strategy of targeting families rather than individuals in nutrition intervention programs. Independent of age, adolescents attribute themselves not too much influence in changing the families eating habits. As reported by adolescents, mothers are seen to be more powerful than their children, but less influential than their husbands. Introduction of healthy food by the father results in positive reactions by the adolescent (mean 3·6) and the mother (mean 3·8). Introduction of healthy food by the mother results in comparable positive reactions by the adolescent (mean 3·7), but in less positive reactions by the father and other siblings (mean 3·1). The adolescent themselves gets less positive reactions, by the mother (mean 3·4), the father (mean 3·0) and siblings (mean 2·9). This argues against targeting the ‘gatekeeper’, in the hope
that nutrition education directed to the mother will generalize smoothly to all family members. The adolescent's perception of their father initiating change shows the major influence of fathers in decision making about food in the family. In nutrition programs, specific attention has to be paid to the sensitization of fathers. Health educators should not be satisfied with the participation of mothers and/or children only, which would result in less powerful changes in eating patterns.
... Although there is a substantial body of research into the aetiology of this condition (Patton et al., 1990; Cross, 1993; Windauer et al., 1993), there is relatively little information on the influence of changing fashion on dietary behaviour as portrayed in the various media (Peterson, 1987; Fox et al., 1990; Elliott, 1994), particularly in Ireland. There is also little relevant Irish research to date on changing fashion trends as important potential influences on health related behaviours of the adolescent population, among whom eating disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent (McKie et al., 1993). We wished to examine whether in the general population any relationship between fashion consciousness and body image might be identified and how this compared with a group of patients of similar age with eating disorders. ...
SUMMARY The influence of changing fashion as portrayed in the various media is an important potential influence on health-related behaviours, particularly in adolescence when peer pressure is reportedly strong. Such health behaviours include smoking and diet. There is also a strong risk of developing eating disorders during this age period. A cross-sectional street survey was undertaken in an Irish city (75 000 inhabitants) of young adult men and women aged 15-30 years to ascertain their know- ledge and use of the print and visual media. A similar study was also carried out on a sample of patients with eating disorders attending psychiatric units in three main Irish cities. The knowledge and media-use information in turn was related to the smoking status and attitudes to own body size of the different groups of young people. In the general street survey, smoking rates reflected the population average for that age group (34%), but in comparison, a higher percentage (50%) of the patients with eating disorders in the same age group smoked. Fashion-conscious women in the general survey were significantly more likely to smoke (42%) than those who were not (23%) (p = 0.05). This also applied to the eating disorder patients—fashion-conscious women were more likely to smoke (50%) than those who were not (40%), although this did not reach statistical sig- nificance. Among boys in the general survey, albeit with smaller numbers, the converse pattern was seen; only 13% of fashion-conscious men smoked, compared with 56% of non-fashion-conscious men (p = 0.01). Insuffi- cient numbers of men with eating disorders in the age group 15-30 years prevented analysis on this sub-group. The study emphasised the different motivations in life- style behaviour between young men and women, suggest- ing that different health promotion interventions are appropriate.
... Cummins and Macintyre (1997) note that most current food policy guidelines contain an implicit acceptance that where you live can have an impact on dietary health, but policy research has traditionally focused upon the individual and their apparent reluctance to change their diet (Beardsworth and Keil, 1997). Confusion amongst nutritionists, conflicting advertising campaigns and recent food scares have caused people to doubt the basis and relevance of health eating advice (McKie etal., 1993). Messages often focus upon individual and household purchasing and consumption patterns, and because of the gendered nature of food work, invariably reinforce notions of female responsibility for diet and health (Pill, 1983; Charles and Kerr, 1986). ...
Communities in rural areas are in receipt of health education messages on healthy eating aimed at the population. These messages are invariably composed without regard to where people reside, and, in particular, to the availability of, and access to, foodstuffs in rural areas. In this paper the authors present data derived from a participative health needs assessment on the topic of food, diet and health. The research was conducted in a number of islands of the Western Isles of Scotland and comprised seven focus groups, 33 semi-structured interviews, one community and one policy workshop, and a final community feedback session. The needs assessment demonstrated a dichotomy between local experiences of food availability, island food cultures and the contents of healthy eating advice. As a result of the research, local people and health care professionals developed a range of activities on the topic of the traditional island diet. People noted the potentially positive elements of this diet for health but also the possibility of promoting social cohesion through the consideration of food and diet histories. In addition, lobbying at a national level was also identified as necessary to the development of a 'healthy food policy'.
... In Study 3, less affectively loaded judgments were tested: Participants judged the relative healthiness of different food items. Judgments of healthiness/unhealthiness of food have been shown to be far removed from judgments of liking for these foods (McKie, Wood, & Gregory, 1993;Wardle, 1993). Here too, as in Study 2, participants themselves selected the group of items that served as the comparison group. ...
People are frequently required to judge how particular group members measure up against others in their group. According to the local-comparisons-general-standards (LOGE) approach, in these member-to-group comparisons, people fail to use the normatively appropriate local (group) standard and are infelicitously affected by a more general standard (involving instances from outside the judged group). Within positive groups, target group members are judged superior to the other members of the group, and within negative groups, inferior. To date, these nonselective superiority and inferiority biases have been demonstrated solely in judgments about human beings. In 6 experiments, nonselective biases were found in perceptual, affective, and cognitive judgments of nonhuman targets, objects, and concepts, thus supporting a cognitive rather than a social account.
De façon à promouvoir efficacement la saine alimentation auprès des Canadiens et des Canadiennes et à la favoriser, il importe de mieux comprendre les facteurs qui influencent les comportements alimentaires. Les perceptions de la saine alimentation peuvent être vues comme l’un des nombreux facteurs qui influencent les habitudes alimentaires. Dans le cadre du présent examen, on entend par perceptions de la saine alimentation «l’interprétation, la compréhension, les points de vue, les attitudes et les croyances du grand public et des professionnels de la santé à l’égard de la saine alimentation, des aliments à consommer pour rester en santé et des aliments sains».
Mexico occupies the first places in obesity worldwide, presenting high levels of this condition and low levels of physical activity. For this reason, the study of adoption and maintenance towards weight control from a psychological approach has a significant relevance in the Mexican context. Within the framework of grit personality, the self-determination theory and the model of the stages of change, this study evaluated the effect of Grit over the motivation towards weight control and its relationship with the stages of change in an adult population in the state of Nuevo Leon. 1351 adults participated in the study (Mage = 29.59; SD = 12.01), 50.9% (n = 688) were males and 49.1% (n = 663) females, using a multistage sampling. The instruments used were the Grit personality scale, the behavioral regulation in exercise questionnaire, and the stages of change questionnaire (the last two were adapted to weight control). Quantitative methods were used, with a descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional, field and non-experimental study design. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis, Pearson correlations, and structural equation modeling were performed using IBM SPSS statistics 23 and LISREL 8.80 software. The data collection was carried out in Monterrey, and the participants responded to the instruments in a self-administered manner with the supervision of interviewers. The most relevant results of this study focused on the hypothesized model on the relationship between Grit, types of motivation and stages of change in weight control, which showed a good fit to data (2 = 7554.199, df = 1521; p < .001; /df = 4.96; NNFI = .92; CFI = .94; RMSEA = .06 (90% CI = .0637;.0667); AIC model = 7818.199; SRMR = .12). Concretely, results indicated a positive relationship between Grit and autonomous motivation, and a negative relationship with controlled motivation and amotivation. Moreover, autonomous motivation showed a positive relationship with the stages of maintenance, action, preparation and contemplation; and a negative relationship with precontemplation stage. Controlled motivation was positively related to the five stages of change; and amotivation was negatively related to the stages of preparation and contemplation, and positively related to the pre-contemplation stage. In addition, Grit showed significant indirect effects on the stages of change through the types of motivation. Specifically, a positive indirect effect was found with the maintenance, action, preparation and contemplation stages, and a negative indirect effect with the precontemplation stage. Finally, Grit explained 40% of the variance of the maintenance and action stages, 30% of the variance of the preparation stage, 56% of the variance of the contemplation stage, and 31% of the variance of the precontemplation stage. The results confirm the theoretical approach of this research, giving Grit a key role in the change and maintenance of healthy behaviors specifically in weight control.
Mexico occupies the first places in obesity worldwide, presenting high levels of this condition and low levels of physical activity. For this reason, the study of adoption and maintenance towards weight control from a psychological approach has a significant relevance in the Mexican context. Within the framework of grit personality, the self-determination theory and the model of the stages of change, this study evaluated the effect of Grit over the motivation towards weight control and its relationship with the stages of change in an adult population in the state of Nuevo Leon. 1351 adults participated in the study (Mage = 29.59; SD = 12.01), 50.9% (n = 688) were males and 49.1% (n = 663) females, using a multistage sampling. The instruments used were the Grit personality scale, the behavioral regulation in exercise questionnaire, and the stages of change questionnaire (the last two were adapted to weight control). Quantitative methods were used, with a descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional, field and non-experimental study design. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis, Pearson correlations, and structural equation modeling were performed using IBM SPSS statistics 23 and LISREL 8.80 software. The data collection was carried out in Monterrey, and the participants responded to the instruments in a self-administered manner with the supervision of interviewers. The most relevant results of this study focused on the hypothesized model on the relationship between Grit, types of motivation and stages of change in weight control, which showed a good fit to data (2 = 7554.199, df = 1521; p < .001; /df = 4.96; NNFI = .92; CFI = .94; RMSEA = .06 (90% CI = .0637;.0667); AIC model = 7818.199; SRMR = .12). Concretely, results indicated a positive relationship between Grit and autonomous motivation, and a negative relationship with controlled motivation and amotivation. Moreover, autonomous motivation showed a positive relationship with the stages of maintenance, action, preparation and contemplation; and a negative relationship with precontemplation stage. Controlled motivation was positively related to the five stages of change; and amotivation was negatively related to the stages of preparation and contemplation, and positively related to the pre-contemplation stage. In addition, Grit showed significant indirect
This chapter explores the role of socioeconomic factors in the development of undernutrition in high-income countries with particular reference to food access and nutrition inequality. Food insecurity is a primary factor related to undernutrition and occurs when food is unavailable, unaffordable, unevenly distributed or unsafe to eat due to inappropriate storage or preparation. Globally, it is widely accepted that food insecurity is associated with hunger and poor nutrition. The elderly, young children and individuals with limited economic or material resources are particularly vulnerable to undernutrition and they are also more likely to experience food insecurity. When considering undernutrition, it is clear that frailty needs to be considered from physiological, functional and psychosocial dimensions in order to give a clear assessment of risk for all health and social outcomes. A combination of physiological, nutritional, cognitive and psychological inputs to improve well-being and quality of life are likely to be included in treatment.
This chapter examines the ways in which gendered roles and responsibilities are understood and negotiated within the family setting with specific reference to the production and consumption of food and meals. It is based upon a study which examined the effect on the family of one member’s change in diet, and focused upon specific kinds of change in diet: a slimming diet, becoming a vegetarian or being advised to change diet as part of treatment for a medically diagnosed condition.
This paper describes educational differences in the extent and manner in which mothers teach their children to eat foods they dislike. A survey among 849 mothers, who cared for children aged between 4 and 14 years in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany showed that higher-educated mothers employed healthier and more consistent food rules than lower-educated mothers. While lower-educated mothers allowed their children more frequently to eat what they wanted, higher-educated mothers acknowledged more often that their children should learn to eat the foods they provided. The latter category of mothers reported more reasons why they taught their children to eat all foods, and obliged their children more often to taste a little bit of the disliked food. They prescribed as many foods as lower-educated mothers, but they limited more foods, which was reflected in their own healthier diet, and probably also in their children's diets.
This is an impressive book by one of the leading social theorists working in the field of body studies. It provides a critical summation of theoretical and substantive work in the field to date, while also presenting a powerful argument for a corporeal realism in which the body is both generative of the emergent properties of social structure and a location of their effects. Its scope and originality make it a key point of reference for students and academics in body studies and in the social and cultural sciences more generally' - Ian Burkitt, Reader in Social Science, University of Bradford Chris Shilling is as always a lucid guide through the dense thickets of the "sociology of the body", and his chapters on the fields of work, sport, eating, music and technology brilliantly show how abstract theoretical debates relate to the real world of people's lives' - Professor Stephen Mennell, University College DublinWhat we are offered here is. a step change in perspective on "body matters" that is both innovative and of fundamental importance to anyone working on this sociological terrain. This text is groundbreaking and simply has to be read' - Acta SociologicaThis is a milestone in the sociology of the body. The book offers the most comprehensive overview of the field to date and an innovative framework for the analysis of embodiment. It is founded on a revised view of the relation of classical works to the body. It argues that the body should be read as a multi-dimensional medium for the constitution of society. Upon this foundation, the author constructs a series of analyses of the body and the economy, culture, sociality, work, sport, music, food and technology.
The relationship of body dissatisfaction, restrained eating, and core wellness to physical self-esteem was investigated in a convenience sample of 654 subjects. Regression analysis indicated that greater physical self-esteem was significantly related to a higher score on the Core Wellness Scale, lower body dissatisfaction, and nonrestrained eating (total R2 = .44). A repeated measures ANCOVA revealed that subjects from the corporate and fitness club samples had a significant discrepancy between their perceived current and ideal body shapes, whereas no differences existed in the university sample. Both genders had a significant discrepancy between their current and ideal body; however, the discrepancy for women was larger than men regardless of group.
Obesity can be the object of a double sociological glance. The first one, adopting the research posture empiricist, positivist and determinist of medical epidemiology, accepts the idea that obesity is a problem of health service and takes care of identification of the social dimensions associated to this morbidity. It interests in the social distribution of obesity, tracks down the role of the stigmatization of obese in the developed societies). It ties to identify the functions of food in the epidemiological transition and tries to understand the impact of the dietary modernity on the development of this pathology. But the sociological glance can also set obesity as a social construction. It puts then the accent on the historic and cultural relativism of the representations, which focus on this state. It tries to describe the emergence, the spreading and acceptance of the idea that obesity is a problem of health service. It shows how the "medicalization" of obesity nowadays overflows on food generally and deconstructs the implicit hypotheses of the nutritional campaigns of prevention. Of this confrontation, a new field of research appears, in the interface of the sciences of the nutrition and the socio-anthropology of food, among which the purpose is to bring to light the complexity of the food decisions.
Following on from the success of the first edition, John Coveney traces our complex relationship with food and eating and our preoccupation with diet, self-discipline and food guilt. Using our current fascination with health and nutrition, he explores why our appetite for food pleasures makes us feel anxious. This up-to-date edition includes an examination of how our current obsession with body size, especially fatness, drives a national and international panic about the obesity 'epidemic'. Focusing on how our food anxieties have stemmed from social, political and religious problems in Western history, Food, Morals and Meaning looks at: The ancient Greeks' preoccupation with eating. Early Christianity and the conflict between the pleasures of the flesh and spirituality. Scientific developments in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe and our current knowledge of food. The social organization of food in the modern home, based on real interviews. The obesity 'epidemic' and its association with moral degeneration. Based on the work of Michel Foucault, this fresh and updated edition explains how a rationalization food choice - so apparent in current programmes on nutrition and health - can be traced through a genealogy of historical social imperatives and moral panics. Food, Morals and Meaning is essential reading for those studying nutrition, public health, sociology of health and illness and sociology of the body.
La lutte contre la stigmatisation des sujets en surpoidsÞ: une voie de prévention de l'obésité Jean-Pierre Poulain Dans la langue française, le terme «ÞstigmatiserÞ» est ancien. Le Littré le définit comme «Þmarquer avec un fer rougeÞ», et Le Robert comme «Þdénoncer comme infâme, condamner avec forceÞ». Il connaît aujourd'hui un regain de faveur qui correspond à la diffusion plus ou moins imprécise du concept des sciences sociales forgé par Erving Goffman. La rançon de ce succès est une certaine imprécision d'usage qui tend à la banaliser. En passant dans le langage courant ce concept sociologique a vu sa signification s'élargir et a perdu en précision. «ÞStigmati-sationÞ» est utilisé, notamment dans les médias, soit dans le sens de «Þpointer du doigt de façon critique quelque chose ou quelqu'unÞ», le sens du Littré, soit dans celui de «Þcritiquer injustement quelqu'un qui ne serait que partiel-lement responsable de ce qu'on lui reprocheÞ». Il convient de le resituer au sein des théories sociologiques et psycho-sociologiques dans lesquelles il est apparu, en même temps que d'en préciser les limites de pertinence.
This paper focuses on weight-loss methods used by working class women. It is based on the results of a qualitative investigation conducted among women who participated in a food education program in the north of France, the area with the highest obesity rate in the country. The women interviewed used three types of techniques (physical, restrictive or culinary) to lose weight. The study offers new evidence that social class is particularly relevant in weight-loss practices in view of both somatic culture and relationships to employment. The paper highlights the key role played by intra and intergenerational mobility, especially when daughters' upward mobility acts as inverse socialization. The paper also demonstrates that the strength of family relationships is of particular importance. Watching one's weight and dieting are more likely to occur when food is central to family exchanges, especially in the context of France where mealtimes are still a crucial moment in family life.
This paper describes educational differences in the extent and manner in which mothers teach their children to eat foods they dislike. A survey among 849 mothers, who cared for children aged between 4 and 14 years in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany showed that higher‐educated mothers employed healthier and more consistent food rules than lower‐educated mothers. While lower‐educated mothers allowed their children more frequently to eat what they wanted, higher‐educated mothers acknowledged more often that their children should learn to eat the foods they provided. The latter category of mothers reported more reasons why they taught their children to eat all foods, and obliged their children more often to taste a little bit of the disliked food. They prescribed as many foods as lower‐educated mothers, but they limited more foods, which was reflected in their own healthier diet, and probably also in their children's diets.
Dietary choice is a complex mechanism that is influenced by multiple internal and external factors that impact individuals across the life span. The study was designed to examine how individuals make snack food choices based on integration of food motives (cues), appropriateness (nutritional index) as functions of nutritional knowledge, food-related motives, and information processing styles. Community college students participated in a multi part on line survey that ascertained food motives (FCQ), nutrition knowledge (FNQ), information processing (NFC), food pairing task and demographic background data. The single sided Lens model was used to determine the regression weights of the nine food motives. Familiarity, convenience and mood were noted as being important in the judgment process. Price and natural content were viewed as negatively affecting the judgment process.
Food preference structures were analyzed as a function of selected variables (age, body mass index and number of correct choices on the food pairing task). With respect to preference, the high BMI group demonstrated the most distinct ranking structure. Hierarchal linear model (HLM) modeling was used to determine the influence of various food motives. Health, mood and food familiarity were all found to have significant random effects. Health concerns and mood were also noted to have significant fixed effects. Based on the observations the following results are noted: (1) nutrition knowledge/background was not a significant factor in improving dietary choice scores; (2) different preference structures were exhibited on the paired comparison task as a function of BMI, number of correct choices and age and (3) information processing style was not associated with correct food choices or utilization of more dimensions to choose food options.
Finally, a recommendation was provided to improve health outcomes of community college students in improving their ability to make healthier dietary choices.
The aim of this study was to explore women's attitudes towards their own bodies in relation to concepts of ‘attractive’ and ‘healthy’ body sizes. A questionnaire was used, with a sample of 100 Dundee women, aged 16 and over, almost all of whom were ‘normally’ sized in terms of weight for height. It was found that the respondents did. to some extent, distinguish between ‘healthy’ and ‘attractive’ body sizes but that the great majority aspired to the latter. Weight control was seen as an important issue in their lives although few had experienced success in their attempts to lose weight. Such widespread negative attitudes towards normal body size present a challenge to those promoting positive health behaviour and the ‘healthy lifestylex’ approach to achieving physical and mental well-being.
In this paper I outline a corporeal geography of consumption. By using the example of food I explore how our bodies are linked to wider consumption spaces and the ways that they are inflected by these sociospatial relations. Although discourses around eating in western cultures tend to privilege self-discipline, there are other meanings around food that emphasise its pleasurable qualities. Because our bodies are a product of the complex interaction of different discourses, social relations, and practices constituted in relation to wider locations, including other bodies, the home, and the workplace, these constellations of relationships do not always serve to produce our bodies in a coherent way. I therefore explore some of the tensions and conflicts individuals experience between different discourses around food, bodily ideals, and sets of regulatory practices in different locations. In doing so I consider the extent to which individuals produce the space of their bodies in accordance with the disciplinary gaze of others rather than their own desires. I suggest that close spatial proximity to others can result in the erosion of individuals' body boundaries, and argue that the lack of corporeal freedom experienced by those interviewed highlights the limitations of public information and discourses about healthy eating, which are usually targeted at individuals and assume individualised patterns of consumption, rather than recognising the way that food consumption is often a shared activity and that bodily practices are therefore inflected by wider sociospatial relations.
This study explored the weight management practices, rates overweight and obesity, perceptions of body weight, and weight management goals in a large sample (N = 467) of Hispanic (n = 421) and Anglo (n = 46) female college students on the U.S.-Mexico border. Women self-reported their height and weight, weight perceptions, and weight management goals and practices. About one third of the sample was overweight and many reported using weight management methods, most notably exercise and restraint dieting. The only significant difference between Anglos and Hispanics was for exercise, where Hispanics reported exercising more frequently. Although most weight control practices positively intercorrelated, exercise and restraint dieting were negatively correlated. Path analyses showed that weight perceptions and weight management goals mediated associations between body mass index and weight management practices. Results suggest that weight management interventions emphasize increasing exercise and controlling calories, together, as a means to achieve healthy weight.
This study is concerned with mothers’ use of strategies directed toward their 10-year-old children to pressure them to eat. The objective is to document the repertoire of strategies and their context of use. This child-feeding practice is of interest because of its impact on the child's opportunities for the development of self-control based on responsiveness to hunger and satiety cues. A total of 24 interviews and one focus group were conducted with French Canadian mothers. Data analyses reveal four major themes associated with the contexts in which pressure to eat were used: food purchasing, food preparation, meal service, food consumption. Strategies related to the context of food purchasing stress the importance of children's influence on family decisions. The strategies used at the time of preparation of meals illustrate the burden of tasks a mother takes on to ensure that her child consumes a particular food. With regard to meal service, very few strategies take into account the appetite of the child. Finally, the variety of strategies deployed at the time of consumption of foods supports the importance of informing parents of the undesirable effect of techniques associated with forcing the child to eat. Avenues for future research are presented.
Food preparation and consumption practices are considered integral to the maintenance or deterioration of bodily health. As a consequence, individuals in western societies are regularly exhorted to follow health guidelines in their everyday diets. However many fail to heed this advice. Various reasons have been proposed for lack of behavioural change, but few have fully considered the social function and symbolic meanings of food and eating.
This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study using the innovative qualitative research method of memory-work to uncover the meanings surrounding food practices in developed societies. The data used are childhood memories about food written by students at an Australian university. The memories are examined for common themes and patterns, revealing important aspects of the ways in which food contributes to social relationships and cultural practices. The findings provide explanations for individuals' adherence to certain eating habits and avoidance of others, and point the way towards the further application of memory-work to elucidate the meanings and symbolic role played by food in western societies.
This longitudinal study examined the role of marital and psychological distress on healthful dietary change. A theoretical model is proposed that specified barriers to healthful dietary behavior as mediating the effect of depressive symptoms, role disagreement, inequity, and education on dietary change over time. Subjects were 97 married couples interviewed in their homes at 2 separate times. Selection in the first wave was by random area sampling based on population concentration. The findings provide evidence of the negative influence of interpersonal and intrapsychic distress on positive dietary change. For wives, marital and psychological distress and the barriers to dietary change were important factors in actual changes in dietary behavior. For both husbands and wives, higher barriers were associated with lesser positive dietary change.
Food assumes enormous importance in prison: for many prisoners it conditions their life in custody and, in many respects, is symbolic of the prison experience. This article explores the complex relationship between gender, food and imprisonment through an analysis of data obtained from in-depth interviews and group discussions conducted in three women's prisons in England. The findings indicate that, in prison, where control is taken away as the prisoner and her body become the objects of external forces, food is experienced not only as part of the disciplinary machinery, but also as a powerful source of pleasure, resistance and rebellion. The implications of such findings for health promotion in the prison context are discussed. Here, the pleasures and consolations of food may well constitute a redefinition of what it is to be healthy in this context, one that challenges the dominant meaning constructed in current health promotional discourse.
In 1995 we recruited twenty-two heterosexual couples from Edinburgh and Glasgow to examine the changes which took place in their eating habits and food related activities when they began to live together. Semi-structured interviews were carried out three months before and after moving-in dates and on each occasion both men and women were interviewed separately. Both felt that eating together had a symbolic importance when they set up home together and most couples made efforts to eat a main meal together most evenings, while shopping and eating patterns tended to become more regular and formalised than they were at the pre-marriage/cohabitation stage. In a small majority of cases the women were mainly responsible for buying and preparing food. A significant difference between these women and those of other, earlier studies is that they tended to be less deferential to their husbands’ food choices. However, associations between women, food and nurturing were evident in the efforts women made to improve their husbands’ diets. Where food purchase and preparation were shared, so was choice of food. The goal of enjoying food together was achieved by learning, influence and compromise but no significant gendering of power in food choice was identified.
With the growing pervasiveness of mass media, individuals of all ages and both sexes are bombarded with images that glorify youthfulness, messages that tie self-worth to thinness, and products that promise youth and beauty forever. Aging women are vulnerable to these societal messages and experience strong pressures to maintain their youth and thinness. As the physiological changes that accompany normal aging move these women farther from the "ideal" image, body dissatisfaction may increase. These women are confronted with the impossible task of trying to defy the natural process of aging through a variety of means, including fashion, cosmetics, selective surgeries, and personal food choices. The resulting body image issues, weight preoccupation, and eating disturbances can lead to voluntary food restriction, depression, social withdrawal, lower self-esteem, and disordered eating, all of which can have a negative impact on quality of life and nutritional status. In this review we explore existing research on body dissatisfaction among middle-aged (30 to 60) and older (over 60) women, discuss the prevalence of body dissatisfaction, its predisposing risk factors, and the resulting eating and body maintenance behaviours, and examine implications for dietetic practice.
Good health for all has become an accepted international goal. Arguably there have been broad gains in life expectancy over the past century. However, the escalating epidemic of adult obesity, estimated at more than 1 billion worldwide, has become a major public health concern. Obesity affects people of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. It is invariably perceived as a product of biological, psychological and social conditions, thereby casting aside its ethical imperatives. Without undermining the role of medicine in managing obesity, this article proposes to discuss the need for nurses to consider relevant ethical principles when supporting people with obesity.
This study examined binge eating and weight cycling in a community-based sample of successful (46 women, 44 men) and unsuccessful (29 women, 25 men) dieters. Successful dieters had lost at least 15% of body weight, kept the weight off for at least 1 year, and regained no more than 10 lb (average weight loss = 48 lb). Subjects completed a written questionnaire and were interviewed by phone several weeks later. Unsuccessful dieters were more obese when starting on a diet (average body mass index = 35.6 compared to 32.1) and were much more likely to have lost and regained 20 lb. Six-month prevalence of binge eating disorder (BED) was 19% for unsuccessful dieters and 6% for successful dieters; lifetime prevalence was 15% and 13%, respectively. Unsuccessful dieters were two to three times more likely to perceive a lack of control during an episode of overeating, to be disgusted with themselves for overeating, and to eat alone because they were embarrassed. Encouraging dieters to set realistic goals, identify potential relapse situations, and interpret lapses may help them succeed.
This is the first of two papers reporting the findings of a study on the views of women with regards to the cervical smear test. In this first paper the views of those who have not had a smear test are analysed. The implications of those views for nursing practice in primary health care are identified and explored. Conducted in 1989-1990, the ESRC-funded study was located in the north-east of England and drew respondents from two age groups living in working-class localities. Focusing upon the views of women who have not had a smear test, a number of conclusions were evident: (a) that the call, recall system did not invite all women in the screening target group for a smear test; (b) that beliefs and attitudes, rather than practical problems, were cited as major factors in non-attendance; and (c) that women hold strong views on aspects of service delivery they would like to see in place. Thus the organization and delivery of the service might be reviewed. However, the barriers posed by beliefs and attitudes must be further explored through community-based work encompassing all community-based health professionals.
This is the second of two papers reporting the findings of a study on the views of women with regards to the cervical smear test. In the first paper (vol. 18, no. 6), the views of those who have not had a smear test were analysed. In this paper, the views of women who have had a smear test are identified and analysed. The implications of those views for nursing practice in primary health care are explored. Conducted in 1989-1990, the ESRC-funded study was located in the north-east of England and drew respondents from two age groups living in working-class localities. Focusing upon the views of women who have had a smear test, a number of conclusions are evident: (a) that a high proportion of respondents were screened opportunistically; (b) that negative views of the service concerned fear and embarrassment and the lack of, or inadequacy of, an explanation; (c) that positive aspects of the service were staff attitudes, convenience and familiarity; and (d) an understanding of the cytology process and the aetiology of cervical cancer was not linked to the level of (non) involvement in the screening service. Thus the organization and delivery of the service might be reviewed. However, the negative views pose a number of problems that must be further explored through primary health care work encompassing all community-based health professionals.
The social construction of overweight has meant that dieting is an experience of being a woman in Western society. Health promotion fails to counteract the cult of slimness and reinforces medicalized notions of the "problem" of overweight, legitimizing unnecessary dieting practices. The limitations of the health promotion approach are examined through medicalization and healthism critiques. The negative consequences for women of dieting to control weight are highlighted in this article through the concepts of gendered food and gendered bodies. The issue of gender and dieting is used here to illustrate the need for interdisciplinary and qualitative approaches to the study of food and nutrition practices, before intervening to change those practices. An examination of the social implications of health promotion in the area of weight control exposes the need for a moratorium on such strategies until a database of qualitative research is established through sociological studies on food and nutrition.
This study sought to enhance understanding of how people conceptualize and manage healthy eating. An interpretivist approach employed the constant comparative method to analyze 79 open-ended interviews with individuals about food choices and eating behaviors for health-related themes. Participant reports depicted cognitive systems for defining healthy eating, where personal meanings evolved through ongoing exposure to a variety of experiential and informational sources. Participants' definitions of healthy eating clustered around seven themes forrelating food and eating to their personal health. Healthy eating definitions shaped how participants categorized food and eating situations as healthy and unhealthy. Participants described healthy eating strategies that were differentially associated with various healthy eating themes. These findings provide an emic perspective of how a diverse sample of adults conceptualize and manage healthy eating. Exposing the implicit and multiplistic nature of healthy eating conceptions provides information useful to health educators promoting behavior changes.
Contemporary ideals of health and nutrition conspire to render the consumption of chocolate and similar snacks problematic. Individuals who self-define as 'chocoholics' therefore present an ideal opportunity to investigate how ostensibly unhealthy acts are defined, defended and maintained within a health-conscious climate. This article reports on an interview-based study with five self-professed chocoholics. A Foucauldian form of discourse analysis was applied to the interview transcripts and four main discourses identified: chocolate as dirty and dangerous; chocolate as pleasure; self-surveillance; and addiction. The function of such discourses in terms of upholding the moral status of these individuals is discussed.
The perceived relationships between diet and health amongst a
sample of working-class women in North-east England are examined,
highlighting the impact of “food scares” current at the time
of the research fieldwork on dietary beliefs and practice. Economic
constraints are a major barrier to “healthier eating” in
certain working-class subcultures, but social conceptions of
“good” food also often conflict with dietary advice. The
findings of the research presented here demonstrate that this conflict
may be heightened by the confusion and controversy attendant on
“food scares”, causing anger and resentment amongst women,
the principle recipients of dietary information.