Interaction as the foundation for eating practices in shared mealtimes.

Mealtimes shared with other people define how, what, how much, and with whom we eat. On such occasions, whether in private or public spaces, and as formal or informal events, our eating practices are inseparable from our interactions with other people. In this Editorial for the Special Issue on Interactional approaches to eating together and shared mealtimes, we provide an overview of the interdisciplinary field of research on eating together and shared mealtimes to illustrate the breadth and depth of work that has been developed in this area to date. The overview is divided into three broad clusters of research that focus primarily on (1) cultural or societal aspects, (2) individual outcomes, or (3) interactional practices. Commonalities across these clusters are discussed, the need for more research across a greater global and cultural diversity of eating practices is highlighted, and the potential for interdisciplinary collaboration on research on eating together and shared mealtimes across diverse scientific disciplines is explored. The papers in this Special Issue showcase a sample of contemporary work from within the cluster of research on interactional practices, and a brief overview of these papers is discussed. Finally, it is argued that as a common area of interest, social interaction as the foundation of eating practices within shared mealtimes poses considerable potential for interdisciplinary collaboration across scientific disciplines, and between scientists, professionals, and participants from the study populations.

To like or not to like: Negotiating food assessments of children from families with a low socioeconomic position.

The present study explored how primary school-aged children from families with a low socioeconomic position produce 'likes' and 'dislikes' of foods during everyday family meals, and how these (dis)likes are understood and treated by their parents. It is crucial to understand how food preferences develop in the course of everyday life, as it is known that there are socioeconomic disparities in food preference and consumption, and that children from families with a low socioeconomic position have relatively poorer diets. Deploying an interactional approach to food preference, video recordings of 79 evening meals in families with a low socioeconomic position were analyzed using discursive psychology and conversation analysis. The analysis highlighted that children's food likes and dislikes were treated differently by their parents. While likes were routinely not responded to, agreed with or further elaborated, dislikes were predominantly oriented to as food refusals or treated as inappropriate, or non-genuine claims. Children's food assessments, i.e., likes and dislikes, were often disattended by parents when they appeared to be food preference displays. By contrast, assessments that accomplished social actions like refusals and complaints were more often responded to. The analysis also revealed the importance of distinguishing between assessments about food items in general, that were not currently being eaten, and assessments of food eaten here-and-now. All in all, the study evidences that and how assessment sequences open up interactional spaces where children and parents orient to and negotiate relative rights and responsibilities to know, to assess and to accomplish specific actions. Implications for food preference research are discussed.

Healthy eating beliefs and the meaning of food in populations with a low socioeconomic position: A scoping review.

Profound understanding of healthy eating beliefs in populations with a low socioeconomic position (SEP) can benefit attempts to improve diet quality in this population, but literature on this subject is fragmented. The purpose of this scoping review was to systematically map healthy eating beliefs and the meaning of food and eating in populations with a low SEP. Systematic search of electronic databases yielded 35 relevant publications that were included in a qualitative synthesis. Populations with a low SEP perceived healthy eating as important, although they expressed various meanings of 'healthy' and 'good' eating. Lack of time and money posed perceived barriers to healthy eating, as well as social influences, and desired identities that can be expressed by specific foods. Traditions were important influences on food and eating practices. Eating behavior was perceived as one's own responsibility and desirably within one's own control. Parents expressed the role of food to regulate children's (eating) behavior. In conclusion, perceived limited control over what is eaten due to various barriers as described by populations with a low SEP, may also be viewed as competing values. Deeper understanding of reasons and thoughts underlying healthy eating beliefs and what it means to eat 'well' is largely lacking in this domain. The findings call for an in-depth exploration of the origin and construction of beliefs regarding 'healthy' and 'good' eating in populations with a low SEP.

Effectiveness of Fresh Start: A Randomized Study of a School-Based Program to Retain a Negative Attitude Toward Substance Use in Secondary School Freshmen.

BACKGROUND: The transition to secondary school is linked to more positive attitudes toward substance use, which prelude the moment of first use. Fresh Start is a school-based prevention program for secondary school freshmen (12-13 years old) to retain negative attitudes. OBJECTIVES: This study evaluates the effectiveness of Fresh Start on the attitudes toward smoking, alcohol use, and cannabis use, and on multiple secondary outcome measures. In addition, the effect of timing of the program within the schoolyear was examined. METHODS: A cluster randomized trial was conducted. 48 classes, containing 1083 secondary school freshmen, were randomly allocated to the experimental or waiting list control condition. Experimental classes completed Fresh Start between October 2015 and January 2016 and waiting list control classes completed Fresh Start between March 2016 and May 2016. Measurements were scheduled at three points in time (September 2015, February 2016, and June 2016). Data were analyzed by means of multilevel analyses. RESULTS: Fresh Start had small but significant effects on the attitudes toward smoking, alcohol use and cannabis use. The majority of secondary outcome measures were not influenced by Fresh Start, although a small, adverse effect was found on the perceived social acceptance of cannabis use by friends. Timing of the intervention within the schoolyear did not influence its effectiveness. Conclusions/Importance: Fresh Start can help to delay the development of positive attitudes toward substance use in secondary school freshmen. Strengths and limitations, implications for practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Social-cognitive determinants of the tick check: a cross-sectional study on self-protective behavior in combatting Lyme disease.

BACKGROUND: Performing a tick check after visiting nature is considered the most important preventive measure to avoid contracting Lyme disease. Checking the body for ticks after visiting nature is the only measure that can fully guarantee whether one has been bitten by a tick and provides the opportunity to remove the tick as soon as possible, thereby greatly reducing the chance of contracting Lyme disease. However, compliance to performing the tick check is low. In addition, most previous studies on determinants of preventive measures to avoid Lyme disease lack a clear definition and/or operationalization of the term "preventive measures". Those that do distinguish multiple behaviors including the tick check, fail to describe the systematic steps that should be followed in order to perform the tick check effectively. Hence, the purpose of this study was to identify determinants of systematically performing the tick check, based on social cognitive theory. METHODS: A cross-sectional self-administered survey questionnaire was filled out online by 508 respondents (Mage = 51.7, SD = 16.0; 50.2% men; 86.4% daily or weekly nature visitors). Bivariate correlations and multivariate regression analyses were conducted to identify associations between socio-cognitive determinants (i.e. concepts related to humans' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to perform certain behavior), and the tick check, and between socio-cognitive determinants and proximal goal to do the tick check. RESULTS: The full regression model explained 28% of the variance in doing the tick check. Results showed that performing the tick check was associated with proximal goal (ß = .23, p < 0.01), self-efficacy (ß = .22, p < 0.01), self-evaluative outcome expectations (ß = .21, p < 0.01), descriptive norm (ß = .16, p < 0.01), and experience (ß = .13, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our study is among the first to examine the determinants of systematic performance of the tick check, using an extended version of social cognitive theory to identify determinants. Based on the results, a number of practical recommendations can be made to promote the performance of the tick check.