In bites in pieces: a study of food consumption of Edinburgh primary school children
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Date
1983Author
Rousseau, Nicole
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Abstract
This study originated from a desire to obtain relevant data
that could guide the development of future strategies of intervention
in the nutrition of primary school children. An ecosystemic approach
was adopted to incorporate the three dimensions believed to be determinant to the eating behaviour namely, the environment, the consumer of
foods with bio-psychological and socio-cultural characteristics, and
the interactions between environment and consumer. It was hypothesized that these dimensions contributed to developing and reinforcing
among children the set of values (referred to as a culture of childhood)
underlying their behaviour. The study addressed itself to the following elements of the ecosystemic model retained: availability of food
in the school environment and its influence on patterns and quality of
consumption, the physical characteristics of foods consumed by children,
socio-economical factors, and patterns of consumption of children.
A 24-hour recall was obtained from 192 children attending two
private schools and two schools located in a depressed area of Edinburgh;
a game of pretend was used with these respondents. An inventory of
shops located in the environment of each school was also done. This
data collection was complemented with 22 ethnographic interviews.
The findings indicate that the proximity of shops in the school
environment was related to the quality and time of food consumption;
so was the amount of pocket money available. The fact of attending a
school in a depressed area rather than a private school was found to be
related to a smaller consumption of fruit, vegetables (if the school
dinner is excluded) and milk and to a larger consumption of chips. "Strong tastes", hard, effervescent or crispy texture, and appealing
shapes were found to be typical characteristics of foods consumed in
the absence of adults. Proportionately more of these foods had been
eaten at room temperature or frozen than warm or cold and more of them
were the size of a mouthful or smaller than of a bigger size. The
visual qualities of foods were not found to be of primary importance
in food selection. Eating in the absence of adults was also found
to be associated with specific patterns of consumption such as the
non-use of utensils and dishes, unstructured settings and consumption
at any time. The data obtained through the ethnographic interviews
supported most of these findings and revealed that the central cultural
theme underlying children's food preferences is that eating must not
interfere with playing. This theme is encapsulated in the phrase
"having a playpiece at playtime in the playground". Suggestions for
intervention and research are proposed.