This study focuses on social interactions during family mealtimes to examine the types of arguments used by parents to convince their children to eat. The results of this study show that feeding practices during mealtimes are dialogically constructed by parents and children together. Parents mostly used arguments based on the quality and quantity of food, adapting their language to the child’s level of understanding. Future research might consider the observations and the subtle qualitative analyses of social interactions among family members as examples of possible ways to recognize the dialogical construction of feeding practices during mealtimes.
AlmSOlsenSOHonkanenP (2015) The role of family communication and parents’ feeding practices in children’s food preferences. Appetite89: 112–121.
2.
American Psychological Association (APA) (2009) Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edn). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
3.
ArcidiaconoFBovaA (2015) Activity-bound and activity-unbound arguments in response to parental eat-directives at mealtimes: Differences and similarities in children of 3-5 and 6-9 years old. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction6: 40–55.
4.
BergBLLuneH (2012) Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences (8th edn). Boston, MA: Pearson.
5.
BilligM (1987) Arguing and Thinking. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6.
BirchLLDavisonKK (2001) Family environmental factors influencing the developing behavioral controls of food intake and child overweight. Pediatric Clinics of North America48(4): 893–907.
7.
BirchLLFisherJO (2000) Mothers’ child-feeding practices influence daughters’ eating and weight. Am J Clin Nutr71(5): 1054–1061.
8.
BlackMMHurleyKM (2017) Responsive feeding: Strategies to promote healthy mealtime interactions. Nestle Nutrition Institute Workshop Series87: 153–165.
9.
Blum-KulkaS (1997) Dinner Talk: Cultural Patterns of Sociability and Socialization in Family Discourse. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
10.
BoutelleKNLytleLAMurrayDM, et al. (2001) Perceptions of the family mealtime environment and adolescent mealtime behavior: Do adults and adolescents agree?Journal of Nutrition Education33(3): 128–133.
11.
BovaA (2015a) Adult as a source of expert opinion in child’s argumentation during family mealtime conversations. Journal of Argumentation in Context4(1): 4–20.
12.
BovaA (2015b) Favoring argumentative disciplinary discussions in the classroom. A study of teacher’s questions at undergraduate and graduate level. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction7: 97–108.
13.
BovaA (2015c) “This is the cheese bought by Grandpa.” A study of the arguments from authority used by parents with their children during mealtimes. Journal of Argumentation in Context4(2): 133–157.
14.
BovaA (2019) The Functions of Parent-child Argumentation. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
15.
BovaAArcidiaconoF (2013a) Invoking the authority of feelings as a strategic maneuver in family mealtime conversations. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology23(3): 206–224.
16.
BovaAArcidiaconoF (2013b) Investigating children’s Why-questions. A study comparing argumentative and explanatory function. Discourse Studies15(6): 713–734.
17.
BovaAArcidiaconoF (2014) “You must eat the salad because it is nutritious.” Argumentative strategies adopted by parents and children in food-related discussions at mealtimes. Appetite73: 81–94.
18.
BovaAArcidiaconoF (2015) Beyond conflicts. Origin and types of issues leading to argumentative discussions during family mealtimes. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict3(2): 263–288.
19.
BovaAArcidiaconoF (2017) Interpersonal dynamics within argumentative interactions: An introduction. In: ArcidiaconoFBovaA (eds) Interpersonal Argumentation in Educational and Professional Contexts. New York: Springer, pp. xvii-xxii.
20.
BovaAArcidiaconoF (2018) Interplay between parental argumentative strategies, children’s reactions, and topics of disagreement during mealtime conversations. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction19: 124–133.
21.
BrumarkÅ (2008) “Eat your hamburger!”—“No, I don’t want to!” Argumentation and argumentative development in the context of dinner conversation in twenty Swedish families. Argumentation22(2): 251–271.
22.
BurnierDDuboisLGirardM (2011) Arguments at mealtime and child energy intake. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior43(6): 473–481.
23.
DraxtenMFulkersonJAFriendS, et al. (2014) Parental role modeling of fruits and vegetables at meals and snacks is associated with children’s adequate consumption. Appetite78: 1–7.
24.
DruckerRRHammerLDAgrasWS, et al. (1999) Can mothers influence their child’s eating behaviour?Journal of Developmental Behavioural Paediatrics20: 88–92.
EgbertMM (1997) Schisming: The collaborative transformation from a single conversation to multiple conversations. Research on Language Social Interaction30(1): 1–51.
27.
FieseBHFoleyKPSpagnolaM (2006) Routine and ritual elements in family mealtimes: Contexts for child well-being and family identity. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development111: 67–89.
28.
FinnaneJMJansenEMallanKM, et al. (2017) Mealtime structure and responsive feeding practices are associated with less food fussiness and more food enjoyment in children. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior49(1): 11–18.
29.
FosterJSGrenierRSMobleyAR (2017) Discourse analysis: A potential analytical technique for nutrition research. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior49(7): S17.
30.
FosterJSGrenierRSTaylorEA, et al. (2019) Discourse analysis: A novel analytical technique for qualitative nutrition research. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior51: 904–911.
31.
FulkersonJANeumark-SztainerDStoryM (2006) Adolescent and parent views of family meals. Journal of the American Dietetic Association106(4): 526–532.
32.
FulkersonJAStoryMNeumark-SztainerD, et al. (2008) Family meals: Perceptions of benefits and challenges among parents of 8- to 10-year-old children. Journal of the American Dietetic Association108(4): 706–709.
33.
GoodellLSJohnsonSLAntonoAC, et al. (2017) Strategies low-income parents use to overcome their children’s food refusal. Maternal and Child Health Journal21(1): 68–76.
34.
GoodmanLA (1961) Snowball sampling. Annals of Mathematical Statistics32(1): 148–170.
35.
GoodwinMH (1997) Byplay: Negotiating evaluation in storytelling. In: GuyGRFeaginCSchiffrinDBaughJ (eds) Towards a social science of language papers in honour of William Labov. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 77–102.
36.
GraceGW (1987) The Linguistic Construction of Reality. London: Croom Helm.
37.
GrecoSPerret-ClermontANIannacconeA, et al. (2018) The analysis of implicit premises within children’s argumentative inferences. Informal Logic38(1): 438–470.
38.
HeckathornDD (1997) Respondent-driven sampling: A new approach to the study of hidden populations. Social Problems44(2): 174–199.
39.
HeckathornDD (2002) Respondent-driven sampling II: Deriving valid estimates from chain-referral samples of hidden populations. Social Problems49(1): 11–34.
40.
HellerV (2014) Discursive practices in family dinner talk and classroom discourse: A contextual comparison. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction3(2): 134–145.
41.
HepburnAWigginsS (2007) Discursive Research in Practice: New Approaches to Psychology and Everyday Interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
42.
Hubbs-TaitLKennedyTSPageMC, et al. (2008) Parental feeding practices predict authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles. Journal of the American Dietetic Association108: 1154–1161.
43.
HughesSOPowerTGPapaioannouMA, et al. (2011) Emotional climate, feeding practices, and feeding styles: An observational analysis of the dinner meal in Head Start families. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity8(60): 1–11.
44.
KuhnD (1991) The skills of argument. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
45.
LaurierEWigginsS (2011) Finishing the family meal. The interactional organisation of satiety. Appetite56(1): 53–64.
46.
LernerGH (2002) Turn-sharing: The choral co-production of talk-in-interaction. In: FordCFoxBThompsonS (eds) The language of turn and sequence. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 225–256.
47.
LothKANogueiradeBritoJNeumark-SztainerD, et al. (2018) A qualitative exploration into the parent-child feeding relationship: How parents of preschoolers divide the responsibilities of feeding with their children. . Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior50(7): 655–667.
48.
MacWhinneyB (2000) The CHILDES Project: Tools for Analyzing Talk (3rd edn). Mahwah, NJ: Lawerence Erlbaum.
49.
MondadaL (2006) Video recording as the preservation of fundamental features for analysis. In: KnoblauchHRaabHSoeffnerHG, et al. (eds) Video Analysis. Bern: Lang, pp. 51–68.
50.
MondadaL (2009) The methodical organization of talking and eating: Assessments in dinner conversations. Food Quality and Preference20(8): 558–571.
51.
MortonHCampbellKSantichB, et al. (1999) Parental strategies and young children’s snacking behaviour: A pilot study. Australian Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics56(4): 215–220.
52.
OchsE (2006) The cultural structuring of mealtime socialization. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development111: 35–49.
53.
PanBAPerlmannRYSnowCE (2000) Food for thought: Dinner table as a context for observing parent-child discourse. In: MennLRatnerNB (eds) Methods for Studying Language Production. Mahwah, NJ: Lawerence Erlbaum, pp. 205–224.
54.
PatrickHNicklasTAHughesSO, et al. (2005) The benefits of authoritative feeding style: Caregiver feeding styles and children’s food consumption patterns. Appetite44: 243–249.
55.
PattonSRDolanLMPowersSW (2006) Mealtime interactions relate to dietary adherence and glycemic control in young children with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes Care29(5): 1002–1006.
56.
PeschMHMillerALAppuglieseDP, et al. (2018) Mothers of obese children use more direct imperatives to restrict eating. . Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior50(4): 403–407.
57.
PontecorvoCFasuloA (1999) Planning a typical Italian meal: A family reflection on culture. Culture Psychology5(3): 313–335.
58.
PontecorvoCFasuloASterponiL (2001) Mutual apprentices: The making of parenthood and childhood in family dinner conversations. Human Development44(6): 340–361.
59.
PotterJWetherellM (1987) Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour. London: SAGE.
60.
RoachEViechnickiGBRetzloffLB, et al. (2017) Family food talk, child eating behavior, and maternal feeding practices. Appetite117: 40–50.
61.
RussellCGWorsleyACampbellKJ (2015) Strategies used by parents to influence their children’s food preferences. Appetite90: 123–130.
62.
SalkindNJ (2003) Exploring Research (5th edn). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
63.
SarangapaniPM (2003) Constructing School Knowledge: An Ethnography of Learning in an Indian Village. New Delhi: SAGE.
64.
ScaglioniSSalvioniMGalimbertiC (2008) Influence of parental attitudes in the development of children eating behaviour. British Journal of Nutrition99(1): 22–25.
65.
TannenD (1990) You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation. New York, NY: Morrow.
66.
TaylorSJBogdanR (1998) Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods (3rd edn). New York: Wiley.
67.
van EemerenFHGrootendorstR (1992) Argumentation, Communication, and Fallacies. A Pragma-dialectical Perspective. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawerence Erlbaum.
68.
van EemerenFHGrootendorstR (2004) A Systematic Theory of Argumentation: The Pragma-dialectical Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
WeigandE (2006) Argumentation: The mixed game. Argumentation20(1): 59–87.
71.
WigginsS (2004a) Good for “you”: Generic and individual healthy eating advice in family mealtimes. Journal of Health Psychology9(4): 535–548.
72.
WigginsS (2004b) Talking about taste: Using a discursive psychological approach to examine challenges to food evaluations. Appetite43(1): 29–38.
73.
WigginsS (2013) The social life of “eugh”: Disgust as assessment in family mealtimes. British Journal of Social Psychology52(3): 489–509.
74.
WigginsS (2014a) Adult and child use of love, like, don’t like and hate during family mealtimes: Subjective category assessments as food preference talk. Appetite80: 7–15.
75.
WigginsS (2014b) On the accountability of changing bodies: Using discursive psychology to examine embodied identities in different research settings. Qualitative Psychology1(2): 144–162.
