Challenges of academic and scientific output in the interface between Social and Human Sciences and Food and Nutrition Sciences

Abstract

A B S T R A C TThis paper discusses theoretical and methodological challenges in the production of knowledge located in the interface between the Social Sciences and the Sciences of Food and Nutrition, mediated by Health Sciences. We recognize that the discussion on the intersections between these scientific fields arises from the need to expand the understanding of the phenomena surrounding the field of Food and Nutrition from other theoretical frameworks beyond the biomedical paradigm. The discussion will guide a reflection on the following issues: a) how to establish Brazilian academic-scientific output at the interface between the Nutritional Sciences and Social Sciences, mediated by Health Sciences; b) considering that there is a 'field' of the socio-anthropology of food developed historically within the Social Sciences and Humanities, which distinguishes the production of knowledge in the field of health; c) the main theoretical and methodological challenges of academic-scientific output today. We also discuss challenges related to the practical consequences of this output, considering the interventionist legacy in the field of health. Lastly, we highlight that such reflections also face another important challenge, namely the urgent need to reinvent ways of thinking and doing science which, articulated with demands inherent to a new field shaped by the search for production of knowledge and practices, is more important to issues raised by health care.

Scientific production of Nutrition courses in Food and Nutrition in Collective Health: contributions to the debate on professional performance

“…This difficulty is also pointed out by other studies, evidencing the secondary position of social sciences in training (Neves et al, 2014), difficulties for professionals in the scope of work in primary care to reflect on the economic, political, social, and culture of the territory in which they work (Aguiar & Costa, 2015) and numerous challenges regarding the development of research in the areas of health, food and nutrition from the perspective of the human and social sciences (Amparo-Santos & Soares, 2015).…”

Evaluation practices in the field of Food and Nutrition

“…Less democratic evaluation models include the report of the results only to management team members, i.e., those capable of transforming the conclusions derived from the results into actions. However, more recent methodologies have encouraged reporting or transferring the evaluation results to all people involved in order to use the evaluation process as a catalyst for changes and learning [69].…”

Meanings attributed to healthy eating by consumers of a street market

“…Studies in the field of socio-anthropology of food [11] and the production of knowledge about the interface between the Social and Human Sciences and Food and Nutrition Sciences are still a challenge, especially in the mediation with Health Sciences [12]. According to Canesqui & Garcia [11], food, beyond the biological perspective, was first introduced into the scientific scenario in the 1970s.…”