Adolescents’ Dietary Habits and Attitudes: Unpacking the ‘Problem of (Parental) Influence’

Abstract

Several interests – policy and research among them – appear aligned in concentrating on the antecedents of young people’s eating habits. Between them they provide a vocabulary for, and convey an implicit model of, antecedents to adolescents’ activities, that can resolve into a simply stated question: what are the influences on young people’s dietary habits and attitudes? This article seeks to unpack/problematize the idea of influence that question contains, limiting attention to one presumed source of influence, that of parents. It aims to illustrate the manner in which the idea of parental influence eludes ready identification by presenting empirical material reporting conceptions of food and eating, of habits and attitudes, and of aspects of domestic life. Via presentation of material on images of household, on young people’s bids for autonomy and independence, parents’ concern and vigilance and features of the divisions of domestic (kitchen) labour, the observation that parent/child relationships are not well characterized as either uni-dimensional or uni-directional is confirmed. Caution is recommended in relying on an idea of influence for research or practical interventions.

Keywords

adolescent health food selection influence (un)healthy eating

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