Exploring children's foodscapes

An examination of the roles played by early adolescent children in interactions with their local food environment

“…Children's food choices are a way in which their independence is expressed, 16 and when our participants made food purchases they most often purchased snack foods. Brembeck et al 19 state that children's foodscapes are dependent on adults' foodscapes, and the healthy-unhealthy discourse often means that children are viewed as victims and protected by adults regarding healthy-unhealthy food. Brembeck et al 19 state that this perception of vulnerability and required protection disregards children's own agency.…”

“…Brembeck et al 19 state that children's foodscapes are dependent on adults' foodscapes, and the healthy-unhealthy discourse often means that children are viewed as victims and protected by adults regarding healthy-unhealthy food. Brembeck et al 19 state that this perception of vulnerability and required protection disregards children's own agency. Overall, we found that children living in mid-income neighbourhoods most often reported being allowed to go to stores on their own (or with others).…”

“…Instead, most chose foods that would be prepared as part of a family meal. The choice of unhealthy food when purchasing on their own could be a result of taste preference for sugary and fatty foods 19 or an opportunity for children to exert power and control over their own food consumption, given their minimal described roles in food acquisition and consumption. This is consistent with Curtis et al, 28 who argue that children's food practices can be understood as a part of their own conceptualized role and related responsibilities within a family unit.…”

“…This social aspect is consistent with literature stating that social relations are an important concept in the FE as identified by children. 19 A focus on the importance of the social aspects of eating may be a potential point of intervention in the food choices of children, whereby food preparation and tasting interventions may improve children's choices when accessing food on their own. While FE literature typically characterizes grocery stores as being sources of healthy food, 11 when children in the current study accessed them they most frequently cited purchasing unhealthy snack foods.…”

“…Previous studies have found that children frequently purchase and consume energy-dense snack foods and sugar-sweetened beverages from stores near their school and home, and when they are guests in others' homes; however, there is limited qualitative research on the local FE of early adolescent children and their food purchasing decisions. [16][17][18][19] The purpose of this study was to examine how pre-and early adolescent (10-14 years old) children from a wide range of neighbourhoods interact with their local FE, with a focus on the foods and food sources they access and their locations. Children in this age group are developing independence and mobility within (and beyond) their home neighbourhoods but are somewhat geographically bound as they cannot yet drive.…”