Children, ‘healthy’ food, school and family: the ‘[n]ot really’ outcome of school food messages

ABSTRACT

This paper draws on a multi-method study with 50 families in Victoria, Australia. Primary school children were asked about food knowledge from school and whether they felt motivated to bring knowledge home. Generally, children and parents felt school food messages are unclear, contradictory and not relevant to them and this reduced the likelihood of messages coming home from school. We identify a critical difference in how families thought about healthy eating and food practices at home and the framework of school messages. Families focused on children’s eating in a pragmatic way, infused with nurturance as well as concern. We argue their practices can be viewed as a form of relational consumption (Lindsay and Maher 2013. Consuming Families: Buying, Making, Producing Family Life in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Routledge.) where food is part of the everyday exchange of love and care. A disjunction exists between familial relational approaches and the regulatory framework of school food messages that impacts how messages move between these spaces. Attention to relational aspects of food consumption at school might allow for a more valuable exchange between family and schools that supports family endeavours to feed children well.

KEYWORDS:

• Family consumption
• relational consumption
• school food messages
• child advocacy
• healthy eating

Acknowledgments

The hospitality and generosity of families who participated in this research was overwhelming. Often the researcher(s) were invited to share drinks and meals with the families at the completion of the interviews. We thank them for the time they spent taking photos/videos and undertaking the interviews and are grateful for their participation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

JaneMaree Maher http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6592-8390

Sian Supski http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5273-8603

Jan Wright http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0935-0915

Deana Leahy http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3763-1573

Jo Lindsay http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9717-627X

Claire Tanner http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1081-019X

Notes

1 Nude Food is an Australian corporate run programme in conjunction with Nutrition Australia, which encourages children to consume food which does not have wrappers. Its twin aims are to reduce litter and the consumption of processed food. Children understand the first aim extremely well because schools run competitions and award prizes to classes who have little or no rubbish. Very few mentioned the reduction in consumption of processed food as an aim of the programme. An extensive lunchbox industry has developed around the Nude Food program. Lunchboxes are compartmentalised and smaller containers are fitted inside which hold different kinds of food.

2 ‘Healthy Harold’ is the giraffe mascot used by Life Education, a not-for-profit organisation, which emphasises preventive health education around healthy eating/living, physical activity, personal safety and drug education.

3 Icy poles are Australian frozen sugar treats which are usually fruit flavoured, and an alternative to ice-cream.

4 Freddos are small chocolate frogs.

5 This is a type of potato chip or crisp.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council under Grant DP160100257.