Class differences in the food rules mothers impose on their children: a cross-national study.
Many studies indicate that children in middle-class families have healthier eating habits than children in lower class families. Class differences in food rules, which parents and especially mothers impose on their children, may underlie these social inequalities in food consumption. The present stu...
| Published in: | Social Science & Medicine Vol. 47; no. 9; pp. 1331 - 1340 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science
Nov98
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=107173141&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 107173141 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 02779536 SMD jtl: Social Science & Medicine issn: 02779536 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Nov98 vid: 47 iid: 9 pid: 2410 pub: Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science artinfo: ui: 107173141 107173141 1999021432 10.1016/s0277-9536(98)00211-1 NLM9783876 107173141 ppf: 1331 ppct: 9 formats: tig: atl: Class differences in the food rules mothers impose on their children: a cross-national study. aug: au: Hupkens CLH Knibbe RA Van Otterloo AH Drop MJ affil: Department of Medical Sociology, University of Maastricht, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands sug: subj: Diet In Infancy and Childhood Maternal Role Netherlands Maternal Role Belgium Maternal Role Germany Social Class Surveys Netherlands Belgium Germany Questionnaires Chi Square Test Step-Wise Multiple Regression Multivariate Analysis Dependent Variable Multiple Regression Food Preferences Snacks Ethnological Research Child, Preschool Child Adolescence Adult Female Human Child, Preschool: 2-5 years Child: 6-12 years Adolescent: 13-18 years Adult: 19-44 years Female ab: Many studies indicate that children in middle-class families have healthier eating habits than children in lower class families. Class differences in food rules, which parents and especially mothers impose on their children, may underlie these social inequalities in food consumption. The present study uses education as a classifying variable and analyses whether mothers with higher education prescribe more 'healthy' foodstuffs for their children and whether they restrict more 'unhealthy' food items than less educated mothers. Moreover, the study examines whether higher class mothers consider health aspects more often and the preferences of their family members less often in their choice of food, and whether class differences in these considerations explain class differences in food rules. To answer these questions, questionnaires on the food practices of 849 women living in middle-class or lower class districts in Maastricht (the Netherlands), Liege (Belgium) and Aachen (Germany) were collected and analysed. The majority of mothers in each city prescribed primarily foods that were served at dinner like meat and vegetables, and most mothers limited their children's consumption of sweet foods, soft drinks and snacks. Higher class mothers restricted more foods, but prescribed as many food items as their lower class counterparts. Class differences in the number of restricted foods were partly, but not completely, explained by class differences in health and taste considerations. Despite national variations in dietary habits and possibly in the education of children, class differences in food rules and the explanatory power of health and taste considerations were comparable in the three cities. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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