Doing ‘healthier’ food in everyday life? A qualitative study of how Pakistani Danes handle nutritional communication

Abstract

Denmark has a strong tradition of public health communication, but the majority of these initiatives draw upon the deficit model where the so called target groups are seen as passive recipients that lack resources to change their lifestyle. The article contributes to the critique of the deficit model in public health communication by the way of two steps. First, by arguing in favour of using a contextual theoretical perspective, that includes multiple social conditions and dynamics, a combination of practice theory and intersectionality. Second, by presenting an ideal-typology of ways of doing ‘healthier’ food among Pakistani Danes, based on a qualitative empirical study of food habits, everyday life and dealings with nutritional communication.

Keywords:

• food
• health behaviour
• everyday life
• communication
• practice theory
• intersectionality

Acknowledgement

The research project ‘Network communication and changes in food practices – a case-study of food habits and social network among ethnic Pakistani Danes in risk of diabetes 2’ was financed by the National Danish Social Science Research Council (FSE), 2008 – 2010.

Notes

Notes

1. We use the term ‘normative’ instead of ‘moral’, because ‘normative’ is related to social norms. Social norms are more specific, practical, and flexible ways of regulating human conduct than moral values, which are often more general and abstract and tend to be treated as more rule-bound (Mortensen 1992).

2. Healthier’ here is understood as the current official Danish nutritional advice (Andersson and Bryngelsson 2007, pp. 36–38).

3. Denmark, Italy, Norway and Portugal.

4. A notable exception in Denmark is the education programme in some of the local municipalities called ‘Healthy in your own language’, where representatives from different ethnic minority groups get a short education in order to work as ‘health ambassadors’ in their own social networks afterwards, based on ‘peer-to-peer’ principles.

5. The participants in the case study have been given pseudonyms in order to preserve their anonymity.

6. In biriani, the roasted ingredients (vegetables, spices etc.) are mixed into the steamed rice just before being served, whereas in pilao, the rice is roasted together with the other ingredients, requiring more oil in order not to stick to the pot.

7. The food pyramid has staples in the bottom, vegetables and fruit in the middle, and meat, eggs and dairy products in the top. The advice is to eat most from the bottom and least from the top.