Determinants of dietary compliance among Italian children: disentangling the effect of social origins using Bourdieu's cultural capital theory

Abstract

Making use of Bourdieu's threefold conceptualisation of cultural capital, this paper examines and disentangles the association between social origins and children's food consumption. The aim of the work is twofold. Using data from the Multipurpose survey on daily life conducted by Istat (2009-2012), we first show that children's compliance with dietary advice is indeed influenced by their social origins, but more so in terms of familial cultural resources than economic ones. All types of cultural capital enhance the quality of children's nutrition. Second, we concentrate on the role of the school canteen as a child-centred investment strategy intended to reduce health inequalities by providing a wholesome lunch for all children. Although the school meal effectively improves the degree of dietary compliance, the results indicate that this public service is less often used by children from lower social origins. Moreover, we do not find any equalising effect of the school meal on the diets of disadvantaged children. These findings are discussed in light of future research on sociology of health stratification and health promotion programmes.

Eating practices among low‐income overweight /obese Brazilian mothers: a Bourdieusian approach

“…The importance of childhood influences coincides with Oncini and Guetto's () findings on Italian children's food tastes, which showed that children's dietary compliance was mainly affected by their social origins. Similarly, Gross and Rosenberger () argue that even though the habitus is constantly changing, it does not change quickly or easily.…”

The Socio‐Economic Boundaries Shaping Young People's Lunchtime Food Practices on a School Day

“…Without further comprehensive research, conclusions about differences in SES offer insight into why inequalities exist in food and drink purchasing but no further awareness about links with positive or negative outcomes. Studies of younger children have, however, provided some insights (Oncini and Guetto, 2017).…”

Cuisine, Health and Table Manners: Food Boundaries and Forms of Distinction among Primary School Children

“…Whether considering the culinary field (Johnston and Baumann, 2010), the relation between nutrition and health (Wright et al, 2015) or the procurement and provisioning of groceries (Oncini, 2019; Paddock, 2016), scholars have highlighted how meals can be used to mark boundaries and reproduce inequalities. Crucially, given the well-known association between children’s social origins and their patterns of food consumption (Oncini and Guetto, 2017) several authors have scrutinised the role of food in family relationships. Meals can be used to call into question and reconstruct family identities, trigger a mother’s moral accountability and carve a space for youngsters’ autonomy (Harman and Cappellini, 2015; Valentine, 1999; Wills et al, 2011).…”

“…Building on the concept of habitus (Bourdieu, 1990; Reay, 1995), this article focuses on social class differences in children’s food knowledge and table manners in an Italian context. Despite a growing body of literature on children’s meals, dietary compliance and social stratification based on Bourdieu’s work (Oncini and Guetto, 2017; Wills et al, 2011), few studies consider the multifaceted ways in which social origins shape children’s relationship with food. This is somewhat surprising, as Bourdieu’s theorisation is markedly concerned with the reproduction of inequalities across generations and he is famously quoted as observing that ‘it is probably in tastes in food that one would find the strongest and most indelible mark of infant learning’ (Bourdieu, 1984: 79).…”