Family Hospitality and Ethnic Tradition Among South Asian, Italian and General Population Women in the West of Scotland

Abstract

South Asians have a high risk of heart disease in Britain and Italians low, and there are corresponding differences in total energy and total fat intake. The present paper explores how far obligatory patterns of food intake exist in either group and are reflected in conventions of hospitality. Both groups are from peasant‐based economies, where, despite the common pattern of low fat intake, food occupies a high proportion of family income, and is correspondingly important as a part of gift exchange in marriage, and as a bearer of collective meanings.Open‐ended questions on meals suitable for family hospitality were asked of South Asian women (63 born abroad, 56 in Britain), and Italian women (39 abroad, 51 in Britain) together with 50 women from the general population, all aged 20–40 and resident in the West of Scotland urban area. The traditional family meal of the Glasgow general population corresponds to the cooked dinner described in South Wales, and suggests a pan‐British cultural symbol. However traditional family hospitality meals play a more important part in the life of migrant South Asians and Italians than they do in the majority culture, and British‐born South Asians maintain this pattern more than British‐born Italians. This pattern of hospitality, in an economy where energy‐dense foods are readily available, may result in high energy intake and increased coronary risk. However realisation of these implications, and increased weight consciousness, can lead to restoration of the traditional cardioprotective diet.