Abstract
The interdisciplinary Foodways and Futures project (2013-2016) is based on a pilot study which found noimprovement in the nutritional state of formerly homeless young people (16-25), now in supported accommodationat a charitable youth organization. Because a healthy food intake during adolescence is important, and because youngpeople with socioeconomic lower backgrounds face difficulties in maintaining a healthy diet (Beasley at al., 2005), Iinvestigated how the young people themselves experience their relationship to food. In this paper I explore linksbetween the lived experience before and during their stay with the organization of this vulnerable group, and theirfood choices and practices. The study illustrates the ways in which those choices and practices may appearnutritionally undesirable, but are nevertheless linked to the young people’s search for ontological security and socialconnectedness, in their new living environment. In this, I draw on and extend Schlossberg’s (1981) transition theoryin order to better understand the rationales underlying an individual’s subjective food choices.
Highlights
During adolescence, nutrient needs are higher than during any other time in a person’s life cycle (WHO, 2012; Webb, 2002): Up to 50% of the adult body weight is gained during that time, more than 20% of the adult height and 50% of the adult skeletal mass (WHO, 2014); and malnutrition during adolescence can have negative long term health effects (WHO, 2014; Jenkins and Horner, 2005)
By drawing on Schlossberg’s (1981) transition theory, which “describes the extraordinarily complex reality that accompanies and defines the capacity of human beings to cope with change in their lives” I argue that their food choices may make comparatively poor nutritional ‘sense’, but make good sense to the young people themselves, in terms of their search for ontological security, personal identity, and social connectedness
Staff members working at community centre (CC) and HS1,2,3, and young people involved in services at CC as well as HS1,2,3 were all invited to take part
Summary
Nutrient needs are higher than during any other time in a person’s life cycle (WHO, 2012; Webb, 2002): Up to 50% of the adult body weight is gained during that time, more than 20% of the adult height and 50% of the adult skeletal mass (WHO, 2014); and malnutrition during adolescence can have negative long term health effects (WHO, 2014; Jenkins and Horner, 2005) It is a life stage of changes in body shape, cognitive processes, and personal autonomy (Stevenson et al, 2007; Jenkins and Horner, 2005), and where young people’s food choices are intertwined within a complex process of reflexive identity development. By drawing on Schlossberg’s (1981) transition theory, which “describes the extraordinarily complex reality that accompanies and defines the capacity of human beings to cope with change in their lives” I argue that their food choices may make comparatively poor nutritional ‘sense’, but make good sense to the young people themselves, in terms of their search for ontological security, personal identity, and social connectedness
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