FEEDING DISTINCTION: CONSTRICTIONS AND CONSTRUCTIONS OF DIETARY COMPLIANCE Author: Filippo Oncini Supervisor: Domenico Tosini University of Trento Doctoral School of Social Sciences - 29th Cycle Sociology and Social Research To Lucia, Luigi, and Francesca 1 Table of Contents Publications ............................................................................................................................... 8 Preamble ................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1 - Towards a Theory of Feeding Practices .......................................................... 12 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 12 2. The Logic of Practice: Epistemological Foundations....................................................... 14 2.1 Structuralism ............................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Constructivism ............................................................................................................ 17 2.3 Epistemological Vigilance .......................................................................................... 18 3. Three Theoretical Backbones ........................................................................................... 19 3.1 Doxa ............................................................................................................................ 20 3.2 The Forms of Capital .................................................................................................. 22 3.3 Habitus and Beyond .................................................................................................... 25 4. Eating and Feeding Practices ............................................................................................ 29 5. From Practice Theory to Research Practice: Methodological Implications ..................... 34 6. Discussion and Conclusions ............................................................................................. 37 Chapter 2 - Cultural Capital and Gender Differences in Health Behaviours: A Study on Eating, Smoking and Drinking ......................................................................... 40 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 40 2. Socioeconomic Status and Health: The Role of Cultural Capital .................................... 41 3. Gender Differences in Health Behaviours ........................................................................ 43 4. Data and Methods ............................................................................................................. 44 4.1 Dietary Patterns ........................................................................................................... 44 4.2 Smoking Status ........................................................................................................... 46 4.3 Alcohol Intake ............................................................................................................. 46 4.4 Independent Variables ................................................................................................ 47 5. Results .............................................................................................................................. 47 5.1 Descriptive Statistics ................................................................................................... 47 5.2 Determinants of Health Behaviours ............................................................................ 50 5.3. Gender Differences and Cultural Capital ................................................................... 52 6. Discussion and Conclusions ............................................................................................. 54 Appendix .............................................................................................................................. 58 Chapter 3 - Determinants of Dietary Compliance among Italian Schoolchildren: Is the School Canteen an Equaliser? .................................................................................... 64 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 64 2. Background ....................................................................................................................... 64 2.1 Children, Food and Social Origins .............................................................................. 64 2.2 Bourdieu, Food and Health ......................................................................................... 66 2.3 The Role of School Canteens ...................................................................................... 68 3. Research Questions and Hypotheses ................................................................................ 69 4. Data and Methods ............................................................................................................. 70 2 4.1 Data ............................................................................................................................. 70 4.2 MDL Dependent Variables ......................................................................................... 71 4.3 SHC Dependent Variable ............................................................................................ 72 4.4 MDL Independent Variables ....................................................................................... 73 4.5 SHC Independent Variables ........................................................................................ 74 5. Results .............................................................................................................................. 74 5.1 Descriptive Statistics ................................................................................................... 74 5.2 Are Social Class Effects Accounted for by Cultural Capital? .................................... 75 5.3 Economic Capital and Type of Store .......................................................................... 78 5.4 Is the Canteen an Equaliser? ....................................................................................... 79 6. Discussion and Conclusions ............................................................................................. 82 Appendix .............................................................................................................................. 85 Chapter 4 - The Holy Gram: Strategy and Tactics in the Primary School Canteen ...... 91 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 91 2. Politics of the School Meal ............................................................................................... 92 2.1 De Certeau in the School Canteen .............................................................................. 94 3. Data and Methods ............................................................................................................. 95 4. From Global Guidelines to School Meals ...................................................................... 100 5. At the Edge of the Canteen: Parents and Nutritionists ................................................... 103 6. Entering the Canteen: Teachers, Cooks, and Children ................................................... 105 6.1. Teachers ................................................................................................................... 106 6.2 Cooks ........................................................................................................................ 109 6.3 Children ..................................................................................................................... 111 7. Discussion and Conclusions ........................................................................................... 113 Appendix ............................................................................................................................ 117 Chapter 5 - Feeding Distinction: The Stratification and Reproduction of Food Boundaries ............................................... 119 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 119 2. The Stratification of Feeding Practices .......................................................................... 120 2.1 Children and Food Boundaries ................................................................................. 122 3. Data and Methods ........................................................................................................... 123 4. Feeding Distinction: Economic and Cultural Boundaries .............................................. 127 4.1 Economic Boundaries: Affordability, Unification, Variation ................................... 127 4.2 Cultural Boundaries: Concerted Cultivation and Concerted Leniency ..................... 136 4.3 Perceptions of School Meals ..................................................................................... 142 5. The Reproduction of Food Boundaries: Children in the School Canteen ...................... 144 5.1 Three Immature Conduits of Distinction: