Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T15:25:07.140Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A qualitative study exploring socio-economic differences in parental lay knowledge of food and health: implications for public health nutrition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

John Coveney
John Coveney*
Affiliation:
The Department of Public Health, Flinders University, Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Background

The role played by lay knowledge in understanding health inequalities has received increased interest recently. Very little is known, however, about how lay knowledge of food and health varies across social class. The present exploratory study compared and contrasted ways in which people from different social backgrounds draw on and use different forms of lay knowledge about food and health.

Method

Parents from 40 families were recruited from two socio-economically different suburbs (20 families from each suburb). In-depth interviews were conducted with the mother and father in each family to examine lay knowledge about food and health. All interviews were transcribed and coded for specific themes. Responses from each suburb were compared and contrasted.

Results

Different forms of lay knowledge about food and health were noted, especially concerning children's eating habits. Parents in the high-income suburb were more likely to discuss food and health in technical terms informed by contemporary nutritional or medical priorities. Parents in the low-income suburb did not share this discourse, but instead were more likely to discuss food in terms related to children's outward appearance or functional capacity.

Conclusions and implications

The research highlights differences in lay knowledge about food and health across social class. It emphasises the need for public health nutrition policy-makers and practitioners to pay attention to lay knowledge on its own terms, rather than attempting to educate from predetermined assumptions, principles and standards.

Keywords

ParentsSocial classLay knowledgeQualitative research methodsPierre Bourdieu
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , May 2005 , pp. 290 - 297
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2005

References

1Harris, E, Nutbeam, D, Sainsbury, P. Does our limited analysis limit the way we seek solutions? In: Eckersley, R. Dixon, J. Douglas, B, eds. The Social Origins of Health and Wellbeing. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2001; 259–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2Marmot, MBosma, H, Hemingway, H, Brunner, E, Stansfeld, S. Contribution of job control and other risk factors to social variations in coronary heart incidence. Lancet 1997; 350: 235–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Graham, H. Women, Health and the Family. Sussex: Wheatsheaf Books, 1984.Google Scholar
4Baghurst, K, Record, S, Baghurst, P, Syrette, J, Crawford, D, Worsley, A. Sociodemographic determinants in Australia of food and nutrients implicated in cancer aetiology. Medical Journal of Australia 1990; 153: 444–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Steele, P, Dobson, A, Alexander, H, Russell, A. Who eats what? A comparison of dietary patterns among men and women in different occupational groups. Australian Journal of Public Health 1991; 15: 286–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Smith, A, Baghurst, K. Public health implications of dietary differences between social status and occupational category groups. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 1992; 46: 409–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Turrell, G. Structural, material and economic influences on the food-purchasing choices of socio-economic groups. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 1996; 20: 611–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8Smith, A, Baghurst, K, Owen, N. Socioeconomic status and personal characteristics as predictors of dietary change. Journal of Nutrition Education 1995; 27: 173–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Turrell, G. Socioeconmic differences in food preferences and their influence on health food purchasing choices. Journal of Human Nutrition 1998; 11: 135–49.Google Scholar
10Turrell, G, Hewitt, C, Patterson, B, Oldenburg, B, Gould, T. Socioeconomic differences in food purchasing behaviour and suggested implications for diet-related health promotion. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 2002; 15: 355–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Mishra, G, Ball, K, Arbuckle, J, Crawford, D. Dietary patterns of Australian adults and their association with socio-economic status: results from the 1995 National Nutrition Survey. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2002; 56: 687–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Giske, K, Turrell, G, Patterson, C, Newman, B. Socioeconomic differences among Australian adults in consumption of fruit and vegetables and intakes of vitamins A, C and folate. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 2002; 15: 375–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Giske, K, Turrell, G, Patterson, C, Newman, B. Socio-economic differences in fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents and adults. Public Health Nutrition 2002; 5: 663–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14Calnan, M. Health and Illness: The Lay Perspective. London: Tavistock Publications, 1987.Google Scholar
15Williams, S, Calnan, M. The 'limits' of medicalisation? Modern medicine and the lay populace in 'late' modernity. Social Science & Medicine 1996; 42: 1609–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16Popay, J, Williams, G, Thomas, G, Gatrell, A. Theorising inequalities in health: the place of lay knowledge. Sociology of Health and Illness 1998; 20: 619–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17Santich, B. It's a chore! Women's attitude towards cooking. Australian Journal of Nutriton and Dietetics 1995; 52: 11–3. 22.Google Scholar
18Crotty, P, Rutishauser, I, Cahill, M. Food in low-income families. Australian Journal of Public Health 1992; 16: 168–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19Charles, N, Kerr, M. Women, Food and Families. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1988.Google Scholar
20Rice, P, Ezzy, D. Qualitative Research Methods: A Health Focus. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1999.Google Scholar
21Gifford, S. Qualitative research: The soft option?. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 1996; 6: 58–61.Google Scholar
22Coveney, J. The government of the table: nutrition expertise and the social organisation of family food habits. In: Germov, J, Williams, L eds. A Sociology of Food and Nutrition: The Social Appetite, 2nd ed.Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2004; 259–76.Google Scholar
23Patton, M. Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. 2nd ed. London: Sage, 1990.Google Scholar
24Calnan, M. Maintaining health and preventing illness: a comparison for the perceptions of women from different social class. Health Promotion 1986; 1: 167–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25Romaine, S Language and social class. In: Smelser, N, Bares, P, eds. International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences. New York: Elsevier, 2001; 8308–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26Davidson, C, Davy Smith, G, Frankel, S. Lay epidemiology and the prevention paradox: the implications of coronary candidacy for health education. Sociology of Health and Illness 1996; 13: 1–20.Google Scholar
27Popay, J, Bennett, S, Thomas, C, Williams, G, Gatrell, A, Bostock, L. Beyond 'beer, fags and chips'? Exploring lay understandings of social inequities in health. Sociology of Health and Illness 2003; 25: 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28Bourdieu, P. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979.Google Scholar
29Williams, S. Theorising class, health and lifestyle: can Bourdieu help us?. Sociology of Health and Illness 1995; 17: 577–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30Jain, A, Sherman, SN, Chamberlin, DL, Carter, Y, Powers, SW, Whitaker, RC. Why don't low-income mothers worry about their preschoolers being overweight?. Pediatrics 2001; 107: 1138–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31Cornwall, J. Hard-earned Lives. London: Tavistock Publications, 1984.Google Scholar
32Leinonen, J, Solantaus, T, Punamaki, T. The specific mediating paths between economic hardship and the quality of parenting. International Journal of Behaviour Development 2002; 26: 423–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33Backett, K. Taboos and excesses: lay health moralities in middle-class families. Sociology of Health and Illness 1992; 14: 255–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34Power, E. An introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's key theoretical concepts. Journal for the Study of Food and Society 1999; 3: 48–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35Foley, R, Pollard, C, McGuiness, D. Food Cent$ – achieving a balanced diet on a limited budget. Australian Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics 1997; 54: 167–72.Google Scholar
36Coveney, J. They need to be educated. In: Proceedings of the 11th National Conference Dietitians Association of Australia. Canberra: The Dietitians Association of Australia, 1992.Google Scholar
37Crotty, P. Good Nutrition: Fact, Fashion in Dietary Advice. St Leonards, NSW: Allen and Unwin, 1995.Google Scholar
38Kretzmann, J. Building communities from the inside out. Shelterforce 1995; 17: 8–11.Google Scholar
39Cooperrider, DL, Srivastva, S. Appreciative inquiry in organizational life. In: Woodman, R, Pasmore, W, eds. Research in Organizational Change and Development, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1987.Google Scholar
40Bear-Winfield, R. Sharing Good Tucker Stories: A Guide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. Canberra: Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services, 1996.Google Scholar
41Tapsell, LC, Brenninger, V, Barnard, J. Applying conversation analysis to foster accurate reporting in the diet history interview. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2000; 100: 818–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
42Heron, J, Reason, P. A participatory inquiry paradigm. Qualitative Inquiry 1997; 3: 274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar