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Feeding ideals and the work of feeding in Swedish families: interactions of mothers and children around the dinner table

Thorsted, Stine LU and Anving, Terese LU (2010) In Food Culture and Society 13(1). p.29-46
Abstract
Feeding norms are pervasive, and ideals of healthy food increase in relation to advice from commercial and government actors. Here we address how perceptions of “proper” food in Swedish family households are formed in relation to children’s preferences. We argue that what is served in today’s Swedish families should be understood in the context of discourse related to food and feeding and as a consequence of parent–child interaction. The empirical material consists of in-depth interviews and focus groups with mothers of children between the ages of three to eight and thirteen to nineteen years. We discuss three main areas: internalized food norms, controlling strategies, and dealing with children’s wishes. Our conclusion is that the... (More)
Feeding norms are pervasive, and ideals of healthy food increase in relation to advice from commercial and government actors. Here we address how perceptions of “proper” food in Swedish family households are formed in relation to children’s preferences. We argue that what is served in today’s Swedish families should be understood in the context of discourse related to food and feeding and as a consequence of parent–child interaction. The empirical material consists of in-depth interviews and focus groups with mothers of children between the ages of three to eight and thirteen to nineteen years. We discuss three main areas: internalized food norms, controlling strategies, and dealing with children’s wishes. Our conclusion is that the interactive nature of feeding work and contemporary food discourse yields a constant tension between trying to put norms into practice and at the same time dealing with specific, often uncertain, situations. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
parenting, interaction, feeding ideals, controlling strategies, gender, feeding work, sociology, sociologi
in
Food Culture and Society
volume
13
issue
1
pages
29 - 46
publisher
Berg Publishers
external identifiers
  • scopus:77149141992
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8d30e21f-d5b3-4bea-8481-f12a552dfe54 (old id 1624975)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:47:14
date last changed
2022-03-15 23:52:41
@article{8d30e21f-d5b3-4bea-8481-f12a552dfe54,
  abstract     = {{Feeding norms are pervasive, and ideals of healthy food increase in relation to advice from commercial and government actors. Here we address how perceptions of “proper” food in Swedish family households are formed in relation to children’s preferences. We argue that what is served in today’s Swedish families should be understood in the context of discourse related to food and feeding and as a consequence of parent–child interaction. The empirical material consists of in-depth interviews and focus groups with mothers of children between the ages of three to eight and thirteen to nineteen years. We discuss three main areas: internalized food norms, controlling strategies, and dealing with children’s wishes. Our conclusion is that the interactive nature of feeding work and contemporary food discourse yields a constant tension between trying to put norms into practice and at the same time dealing with specific, often uncertain, situations.}},
  author       = {{Thorsted, Stine and Anving, Terese}},
  keywords     = {{parenting; interaction; feeding ideals; controlling strategies; gender; feeding work; sociology; sociologi}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{29--46}},
  publisher    = {{Berg Publishers}},
  series       = {{Food Culture and Society}},
  title        = {{Feeding ideals and the work of feeding in Swedish families: interactions of mothers and children around the dinner table}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}