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The eating habits of children – routines, preferences and competences

Steen Brock and Niels Kayser Nielsen

This article is based on a subanalysis in the multiscientifical and cross-faculty research project at the University of Aarhus, entitled ”Cool Snacks – Development of healthy snack products for adolescents based on an analysis of physical, individual, social, and cultural determinants of snacking behaviour”. Scientists partly from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Aarhus School of Business, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Humanities, the University of Aarhus and the Technical University of Denmark are a part of the project. The general purpose of the project is the development of healthy snacks products for adolescents based on an analysis of physiological, individual, social and cultural determinants of ”snacking behaviour”.

This part of the project is carried out as a close co-operation between the associate professor, Dr. Phil. Steen Brock, the Department of Philosophy and History of Ideas and associate professor, PhD Niels Kayser Nielsen, the Department of History and Area Studies, the University of Aarhus, and it constitutes Work Package 1, part 2 in the total course of the project. Our part of the analysis concerned the mapping and analysis of the daily routines, preferences and competences of the food area with fourth and sixth graders.

The purpose of the analysis

In a wide sense, the purpose of the analysis was to map the eating habits and food preferences of school children. The purpose did not include analysing whether children of today are healthy or unhealthy eaters. The aim was rather to collect knowledge of the way in which children handle food and beverages. What are their ”preferences”? What tastes good? What do they not like? Furthermore, the emphasis is on analysing what they are eating during the school day, i.e. in the morning before school, in the two lunch breaks during school and after school. The preferences were analysed especially regarding taste, smell, appearance, texture, wrapping and location at the store.

Furthermore, the purpose was to include the food-wise ”temptations” of which children of today are surrounded, i.e. in kiosks, petrol stations, super markets, bakeries sandwich shops, hot dog stands etc, in the proximity of the schools.

This is done, hoping that it is possible to disclose some of the general preferences of the children in surroundings where they, to a higher extent than in their schools, are able to decide what they want to eat – and under which circumstances.

Finally, the purpose was also to disclose a certain width in the eating habits and preferences of children. For this reason, we have included fourth graders as well as sixth graders and to some extent, although less systematically, fifth graders and adolescents in the seventh, eighth and ninth grade. Secondly, the schools chosen are of a certain institutional and financial difference. Thus, interviews in both public and private schools have been conducted, and the interviewed children include children from a village school, a school in a provincial town with a railway station, a market town school and schools in a big city like Aarhus in Denmark.

Design of analysis

The analysis was conducted in August and September 2009. The results of the analysis were summed up in October 2009. The material selected is as follows:

Six schools with a varying social profile and size, and varying in temptations in their proximity, such as super markets, kiosks, petrol stations, etc. In the schools mentioned, both fourth graders and sixth graders were selected. The schools are:

Herslev Skole, the Triangle Region in South-Eastern Jutland

Bording Skole, Central Jutland

Stensballeskolen, the city of Horsens

Skovvangskolen, the city of Aarhus

Vestergårdskolen, the city of Aarhus

N. Kochs Skole, the city of Aarhus

On the basis of the above-mentioned general prerequisites and in order to be able to operate with several different types of material, methodically, there were partly semistructured interviews in schools, kiosks and shops, and partly observations (without participation) including a field diary at the schools, in the shops, kiosks, railway stations and bus stations. More specifically, besides the interviews at the schools with the pupils, the personnel and the management, there were interviews with and observations of shop owners and customers of 38 shops, kiosks, etc, in the proximity of the schools, spanning bakeries, bakery outlets, sandwich shops, super markets, kiosks, petrol stations, hot dog stands and kebab shops.

Finally, also railway stations and bus stations in the cities of Herning and Aarhus were selected regarding observations and interviews.

At the schools, there were interviews partly with the pupils of the grades mentioned at a class level and partly with the personnel (headmaster, home economics teacher, class teacher).

Firstly, the aim was to conduct interviews with the pupils and then to validate to a certain extent with interviews with the personnel, and lastly, to compare with interviews with representatives from the nearby ”temptations” and observations in the schoolyard, on the way to school and on the route between the school and the ”temptations”.

At the beginning of the interviews, the purpose of the analysis was clarified (that this is research and not control), and it was stressed that the aim was not to promote health, but solely to disclose habits, ”dreams” and indulgence.

With permission, we used tape recorders and dictaphones at the interviews. Most of the interviews were pre-arranged with the school management, but in a few cases, the interviews were spontaneous, according to who we met during the breaks, in the schoolyard and on the way to and from school. The interviews outside the schools – in the kiosks, shops etc. – were all spontaneous.

Concurrently, the selected classes of four of the schools (except Herslev), filled in a questionnaire. This was not pre-arranged with Bording Skole. At this school, we wanted to let observations and spontaneous ad-hoc interviews be dominant.

300 pupils were interviewed in the class rooms, on their way to and from school, at railway stations and bus stations and in a number of shops, and we also interviewed a number of employees of the shops that sell food and candy to the children. These respondents include the respondents of the questionnaire. Furthermore, a major focus group interview was conducted with eight children from the sixth grade at Stensballe Skole. These children did not fill in the questionnaire.

We have asked the pupils about their spontaneous cravings regarding food and beverages, what they like and what they do not like, what tastes good and what does not taste good, what is delicious and disgusting, healthy and unhealthy, attractive and inviting and nauseating, boring, annoying, difficult, smells bad, etc.

We have also asked a lot about perception and experience regarding texture, composition, making, packing, smell and sensory perception (i.e. whether the items are sticky, greasy, get stuck in the teeth, a.o.t.)

Furthermore, we have asked about eating situations, eating habits, inclination to try something new, effect of commercials, peer pressure, influence from family, schools and shops.

We have asked them to give their imagination free rein as to what would be nice or disgusting to eat, and furthermore, to a large extent, we have tried to disclose their actual knowledge of products, companies, brands, decor in the shops, nutrition content, ethnical products and the good and bad habits of different generations.

Finally, we have also tried to establish if there are considerable differences when it comes to gender, age, national placement of food, candy and snacks and the geographical and demographical character of the schools.

All in all, it was a methodical basic principle to illustrate the habits, competences and preferences of the children from more than just a lookout view. Instead we wanted to circle around them in various ways, regard them from multiple angles and in different perspectives (Hannerz 2001). Our intention was to ”get behind” their preferences and habits. For that reason, during the interviews, the children were several times asked about the material and flavour characteristics of the food and candy, and they were also asked about the various food situations, in order to regard it in different combinations. (Brembeck 2007: 119ff.). From the beginning, this basic principle was based on the assumption that children of today know exactly what is the ”right” thing to say when it comes to food.

Questionnaire – fourth and sixth grade together, 157 respondents

We have conducted a series of investigations (interviews, questionnaires, observation) into a number of issues:

- We asked schoolchildren what they might want to eat at certain kinds of meals

- We asked shopkeepers what schoolchildren purchased before, during, and after school

- We asked how schoolchildren’s preferences were related to the preferences of their comrades

- We asked how their eating habits differed from those of their family members

- We investigated when, where and with whom children eat or drank something

- We asked about the significance of wrappings, moistures, advertisements or age affinities.

- We asked about the significance of health issues, practical problems, tastes, social events, weekdays, school regulations, sexual symbols, and emotional things like courage, trust, fun,

One can say that we tried to portray certain scenarios like “the morning meal”, “the little lunch break”, “the big lunch break” etc., but it would be too simple to say that we only looked at such scenarios of eating. For our investigations were conducted in the light of certain ideas about, say,

What it is to be a citizen in modern Denmark

What it is to be a family member in modern Denmark

What it is to be a schoolboy or girl in modern Denmark

What it is to be an adolescent in modern Denmark

In order to be more concise:

(Note: Minimum limit 10 responses equals 6% per category and multiple answers per respondent)

What do you mostly have for breakfast?

What would you prefer to have for breakfast if you could decide yourself?

What do you usually eat during your 10 o’clock break?

What would you prefer to have during your 10 o’clock break if you could decide yourself?

What do you usually drink and eat during your lunch break?

What would you prefer to eat and drink during your lunch break?

Which fruit do you prefer?

Which type of candy do you prefer?

Which bread type do you prefer?

(110 respondents)

Summary of the comparisons of the fourth and sixth grade:

- There are considerably fewer children in the sixth grade who are drinking milk and who want to drink milk in the morning, even though the consumption of oatmeal/cereals with milk is constant. But the preference for oatmeal is considerably reduced.

- There are considerably fewer sixth graders who drink juice in the morning, and considerably fewer want to drink juice.

- In the sixth grade they eat considerably more white bread in the morning and less rye.

- Sixth graders eat considerably more fruit during the 10 o’clock break.

- Sixth graders drink considerably less milk during the 10 o’clock break.

- Beverages during the 10 o’clock break are more varied and the preference for beverages becomes more specific according to favourite taste.

- The craving for a sandwich (mostly chicken, bacon and lettuce) is clearly growing

- Strawberries, cherries and melon are more frequently the favourite choice of fruit in the sixth grade, whilst the preference for pineapple is reduced.

It is noted that among the favourite types of candy, bars of various kinds are less mentioned in the sixth grade.

Furthermore, toffees and boiled sweets become less popular over the years, as well as chips (perceived as candy, which chips are from a young age). Presumably, the consumption of chips increases with the age of the children, because it is later perceived as a snack and not as candy.

A descriptive summary of interviews and observations

There are certain competences and preferences that are clear and general, even though there are considerable variations on several sides.

Fourth graders have an astonishing knowledge of assortment and options. They are not particularly actively investigating, but, in general, they are open-minded. Their preferences are characterised by a food culture determined by tradition, which includes both habits, standards and traditions brought to them by their families, and the supply of healthy and unhealthy food that they see in the shops and are presented to by the media. There are no mentionable difference between the boys’ and the girls’ habits and preferences. Fourth graders are very conscious that they are no longer small children, so they do not want to be associated with cartoons and other kindergarten things.

In the sixth grade, the difference between the genders begins to emerge, but it is a difference that is ”surpassed” by the other differences. Furthermore, the children of both genders begin to investigate new things and unfold their curiosity in a moderate, calm, but in principle, quite open way. Food consumption has now become a part of the process in which one positions oneself in the group and stands out as an independent individual.

That food products cannot be separated from meals (and snacks) applies to everybody. The main example is breakfast. It is quite evident that breakfast is not perceived as ”real” food to be eaten later in the day (where it is consumed as a snack), and at the same time they are very conscious about avoiding certain foods that are obviously unhealthy in the morning. Breakfast is a ritual with specific frames and prerequisites. Breakfast is not an orgy in unhealthy Kellogg’s products, but something that is carefully negotiated within the individual families. It would not be easy to present an entirely new product on the breakfast table, and most certainly not a snack-like product.

Food during school hours also follows tradition, but it is more flexible than breakfast. An astonishing amount of unhealthy food is consumed, including an extensive consumption of fruit and vegetables, supplemented with both healthy and unhealthy things. To a large extent, the actual consumption is determined from the facilities of the school, not least whether there is access to microwave ovens, food stands and nearby shops.

The major distinction is between ”lunches”, including sandwiches and bread rolls on one side and ”dinner” on the other side which includes Italian standard dishes like pizza and lasagne. The food culture is a traditional lunch box culture, even if the lunches are carefully made and decorated. But this lunch box culture is entirely open and receptive to a supplement of all sorts of hot dishes.

There is a general distinction between ”old-fashioned, Danish food” (which the grandparents eat), ”new, Danish food” (which the mothers eat, including chicken, salads, spinach and salmon) and finally, foreign food (Chinese, Greek, sushi, Mediterranean (shellfish, pizza, kebab), American (burgers) and Mexican).

One knows and speaks about these ethnical dishes as standard products available as fast food i Denmark. There are no nuances in the description of these products. While the children can describe 10 differences in the supply of rye bread, cheese, candy bars or fruit, it is simplistic what they say when it comes to ethnical products, and often they are not able to distinguish tacos from tapas or bulgur from millet. It seems that anything goes, as long as it can be called pizza. In reality, the identification criterion is bread, ketchup and melted cheese.

In the second that one mentions bread and not food, the picture changes. Here, the children are able to distinguish between a considerable number of bread types and variations in flavour (see the questionnaire). They know of ciabatta, foccacia, ”bondebrød”(which is a mix of white and rye) with flax seed, garlic bread, etc.)

The relatively healthy food culture at home and at the schools is systematically connected to an extensive and large consumption of unhealthy things, bought before, during and after school hours. We estimate that 30-40 % of the children – as soon as they are allowed to or can get away with it – use approximately 20-30 DKK on a daily basis on pizza slices, burgers, sandwiches, chips, cinnamon rolls and other types of cake, slush ice, pigs in a blanket, chocolate rolls and proper dishes, such as hash, meatballs in curry sauce and french fries with sliced sausage. The consumption of sausages is almost only directed towards what the Danes call a ”French hot dog”, which consists of half a baguette with a hole in the middle, making room for the sausage and dressing.

Children are very conscious of the products’ association with generations (ages). Sausages are trivial and old-fashioned. Hot dogs are out, mustard is too sour and strong, and as well as hollowing out a loaf of bread and stuffing it with cream puffs, this is something that the mothers did when they were children. Similarly, boiled sweets, turkish delight, fruit bars, liquorice root, traditional pastilles, marmalade sandwiches, orange soda, toasted white bread and fig bars are not in.

The children are very conscious of what is healthy and what is not (fat, cakes and candy) – even though they do not know the fat content of the seeds of bread and the sugar content of fruit. But in relation to what they think is healthy, they are happily eating a mix of healthy and unhealthy food. They do care, and are relatively competent in limiting the unhealthy food and further the healthy food, while maintaining a childish joy and spontaneity at all ages, which in the sixth grade is connected to a wanted and conscious search for excesses and marking of sovereignty.

Knowledge of special products is of the utmost importance. If the children know what they are eating (know the composition and content), they will like it more. It is an inexorable demand to be able to identify the ingredients of a product. Lumps in yoghurt are not popular, because they are not ”real lumps of something”, whereas if one slices larger pieces of fruit directly into the yoghurt oneself, it becomes attractive to eat. It is the same story in connection with bread with cold cuts. Here, the relative thickness in the relation between bread and cold cuts is decisive. Neither bread nor cold cuts must dominate the flavour. The fine balance is appreciated, i.e. balancing the taste, balancing the layers, balancing sweet and salty, balancing hard and soft and balancing dark and light.

Chips are perceived as candy, and the knowledge of the selection is great. Chips are without a doubt the most popular type of snack. There is a clear interest in bags of mixed chips. Wine gum mixes rank high for the same reason; because there are pieces of different colour and flavour. ”Mix it yourself” is a popular concept, but the good pre-fabricated mix is appreciated.

Children think of candy in categories (liquorice, wine gum, chocolate, etc.). They know all of the companies, brands, types and shapes, and they have favourites. However, they consider ”Gold Bars” (Guldbarre from the Danish company ”Toms”) and Mars bars as being in the same category – chocolate bars. The raw materials are in focus, and the children can easily distinguish between the substance, the sprinkling, the supplement and the icing. A cream puff is that way, whether it’s been sprinkled with cocoanut or not.

Thus, the children prioritise the way in which the supplement contributes to doing the substance justice. The most evident example is the many bars with several layers of different texture, i.e. crunchy sprinkling, a penetrable surface and a soft core, which contributes to the experience of a good chocolate or liquorice bar.

It is imperative that snacks/candy/fast food are chewable. One does not suck, swallow or crush. One chews.

Limitations in the competences of the children

The interviews showed a series of things that illustrates that, as developed and varying they may be, there are limitations to and prerequisites of the children’s competences in relation to handling foods and food products.

Firstly, food products are clearly perceived as industrial products, i.e. processed and packed in a factory environment. Foods are not perceived as raw materials and the work of specific manufacturers. There is no such thing as ”Butcher Jones’ sausages are better than butcher Smith’s sausages”. Furthermore, fruit is considered to be standard products to be eaten by the force of habit rather than by self-conscious preference. The children do not mention nuances regarding types, colour, type of peel, crispness, and similar, and they are not able to clearly distinguish peaches from nectarines or mandarins from clementines. As a women in one of the stands at the schools said: ”They just want what’s familiar to them”.

Secondly, there are distinct habits concerning what goes with what. Two characteristic statements are ”Not everything goes with rye like sausage” and ”Everything cannot be cold cuts”. In that connection, it’s said that ”Nuts are not cold cuts”. Standards and habits go deep, but they are not determining the consumption of food and they are blocking the curiosity and desire to ”try” something and to ”taste – without eating – something”. Furthermore, it is evident that the perception of food products is determined by the occasion. Bread rolls are for weekends, sausages are for barbecues, corn flakes are for breakfast and raisins and nuts are not for meals but for snacking. This is more than an allocation for specific types of meals. It concerns types of being together such as the outing during the lunch break where a group of boys may share a bag of chips or where the girls may share a large pasta salad, or shopping for the bus ride home from school, where the boys may grab two pigs in a blanket or French hot dogs, while the girls buy chocolate and scones (Sylow 2008). The types of food, candy and snacks that call for being together are preferred.

Thirdly, it is evident that the school subject “home economics” and other adult initiatives cannot decisively change the food culture that the families to which the children belong have already developed. But the subject supplements in the best way possible what is already established and increases the children’s knowledge and consciousness of a wider selection of products and meals.

Fourthly, the children are not particularly imaginative and adventurous when they are asked to suggest delicious foods for birthdays and other festive occasions. If they were allowed to buy goodies for a lot of money, they would still buy the typical items from the questionnaire.

Fifthly, the children’s’ behaviour in the shops is rather stereotypical. They go straight for what they came for, but they are also curious and investigative during their stay in the shop. They do not change their first choice, but they begin buying on an impulse. When the children are asked to explain why their parents buy the things they do, i.e. which ingredients that go with which dishes and why they would be suitable for them, they become silent. One knows and is able to assess the finished meals and eatable stuff, but one cannot relate to the choices, processes and procedures that convert ingredients and raw materials into finished food.

Finally, it can be stated that the knowledge of fish is limited, and that the preference applies to only one species, namely salmon, which the children know both as being cold in a sandwich and hot in a meal.

Conclusion: Competent and quality-conscious consumers with a sense of hybrids

To a large extent, the children get candy during weekends, but it is remarkable that many of the children also get or want fruit at the same time, so that healthy and unhealthy stuff is combined. It is evident that the choice of candy has an element of a choice of a toy. If the wrapping can be used for something, or if it is possible to play directly with the candy (such as wrapping a liquorice ”lace” around the wrist or using it as a lasso) increase the children’s preference for the product. This is one of the reasons why ”Rocket ice lollies” (with a piece of wine gum hidden in the top) sell better than ice lollies consisting only of the same kind of ice all the way through.

The new types of pastilles, with several layers and not a homogenous mass (which includes Stimorol Senses chewing gum), have definitely taken over the market. Wrappings that glitter in gold and metal (like the wrappings of Holly bars (by Toms), Gold bars (by Toms), Twix (by Mars Incorporated), etc., catch the eye effectively and become attractive. The question is if this reminds one of other types of commercials, including the ones of the media?

Displays with many types of homogenous candy which, other than a coherent assortment, also display the colours of the rainbow will catch the eye in particular. This applies to for example the new series of Läkerol. Sales show that only two products sell well. But the reason for this is evident – that there is a wide range of options. The fact that there are 15 variations to choose from turns the concept into a brand. Apparently, choosing between serialised products is tempting.

To a large extent, children are conscious of quality products, and, as consumers, they have a high competency level. This also applies to candy, where it is also evident that their choices are often connected to place of origin (English wine gum, Finnish liquorice, Italian ice cream) (they are also able to mention Greek yoghurt, French and Italian cheese, Chinese spring rolls and Japanese sushi).

There is a widespread desire to try new combinations, for example chocolate covered or sprinkled fruit. This, again, emphasises the tendency of complex and hybrid products ranking high on the scale of options. The quality-consciousness and the competency level also manifest themselves in the fact that they are conscious of and able to describe bad foods (cafeteria food, ”carton food”, McDonalds, sweets, sticky stuff).

The children are also able to vividly describe the experience of the taste of the products and mixture of products, for example, ”raisins are too sweet on their own, nuts are too dry on their own, but together they taste great”, which furthermore emphasises their extensive competences, but also the possibility of a development towards a softening of the boundaries between healthy and unhealthy foods, between vegetables and candy on one hand and candy on the other hand. The customary categorisations seem to be moving.

Perspective: Polyvalence - Walking on two legs

The children’s evident competency preparedness in relation to food culture and meals marks a considerable extension of the tendencies towards a differentiated food competence, which was otherwise reserved for the adults. Within food sociology, in recent years, research has drawn the attention to adaptability and ad hoc determined differentiation within the preferential system of adult food consumers, on several occasions. On one hand, the ability to ”let go” and gorge in indulgence when the time was right, was established, and on the other hand a disciplined and restrictive behaviour when it comes to food, when this was required, in which the ability to ”walk on two legs” was striking.

Our analysis points in the direction that this tendency now also seems to include the eating habits and preferences of children, where one can easily step out of the health role and into a desire to ”pamper oneself” for a while, and then also unproblematically return to a statutory health regime. There is no evidence of a strong antithesis between the two positions in our analysis. Maybe it’s even this competence differentiation and ability to handle a wide preferential system with the appertaining ability to ”walk on two legs” that constitute the driving force of the tendency to search for new flavours, which may be characterised as hybrids, where one should be able to register the different parts at the same time, thus it is a question of what one could call a ”differentiated hybrid”. If this tendency turns out to be stabile and more than just a passing fashion phenomenon, new ways will open to food production and distribution, if the customers’ ability of new flavour differentiations should be taken into account.

The capacity to “walk on two legs” can be elucidated by invoking the notion of polyvalence and the related terms ambivalence and bivalence as used f.i. by the Polish anthropologist and sociologist Antonina Kloskowska (Kloskowska 2001). Originally she examined the idea of national consciousness of people living close to the border between Poland and its surrounding countries, but the notion of polyvalence has proven its significance in relation to other topics, such as aesthetic critique (Rosengren 2007). Indeed, Kloskowska invites researchers to make use of the notion in many cultural contexts (Kloskowska 1994: 96).

Whereas the notion of ambivalence obviously carries negative connotations, the notion of bivalence might point to a non-conflicting co-existence of elements from different cultures, where each such element counts as equally valid and effective within the orientation of the people in question. The notion should block our tendency to look for fusions of horizons and help us avoid thinking in terms of indifference and unities without borders. The notion of bivalence thus points to a double-consciousness that is not split or characterized by tensions, but by the very ability to feel at one in relation to any of the different, non-conflicting cultural elements.

There is an analysis of cultural understanding (Diamond 1992) concerning the ability to be half Indish, half British, to be a Sahib that supports this notion of bivalence, which generally put implies the ability to operate and manage being (and/or being related to) certain kinds of hybrid (Alsmark 1997). When the complexity of such a hybrid is interesting the notion of polyvalence is called for expressing a cluster of different forms of bivalence.

The notion of polyvalence captures fairly well the capacities of modern consumers. Dualities like present and past, traditional and fanciful, comfort and risk, health and leisure, institution and individuality, close and distant, quick and slow or trust and experiment are straightforwardly at stake as elements of the kind of behaviour we have found to be characteristic of the schoolchildren we investigated. We have found these children to be capable of operating polyvalent assessments of food. An indication of the adequacy of this picture is the absence of moral thoughts in relation to food choices. The choice of healthy, slow, and nutrias food is not made especially on grounds of feeling guilty or having certain responsibilities. Claims of accountability need not have this moral, political or in other ways overarching tone. Choices made in the light of a polyvalent understanding has none, and needs no, general normative ground.

Polyvalent capacities show in the actions themselves, including the ways in which people asses the taste of various kinds of food. Here we found that children were able to, and recognized, tastes of sweet and sour, crunchy and soft, easy or difficult to chew etc. such that these recognitions never indicated a singular pole to be of preference. Instead it was the plural character and the notion of an adequate or suitable blend that came to the fore. For example a child described the adequate sandwich in terms of the relative width of the bread, the lettuce, the salami, the slice of cheese, and the layer of mayonnaise. Similarly, forms of candy were described in fine detail in terms of layers and textures. By contrast, and confirming our analysis, forms of yogurt containing chunks of berries were not popular for the very reason that the distinct taste and texture of these chunks did not add to the taste of the yogurt as such. The chunks are found so to speak to be partly dissolved within the creamy liquid of the yogurt. It is different when you yourself add slices of fruit or crunchy pieces of bread or nuts on top of a yogurt, the children explained. Here we have a kind of transparency that goes with the capacity of polyvalence, instead of “taking it all in” within one, major appropriation of the product.

This also explains the popularity of looking at and handling pieces of snack and candy as children’s tools. Playing with what you eat may sound childish and inappropriate, but here it means being able to handle what you eat and taste in a way that demonstrates your polyvalent assessment of the products.

Now, having shown the adequacy of invoking the notion of polyvalence in respect to certain kinds of product and taste, we finally will make use of it in relation to some of the different kinds of positionings in line with (Harré & Moghaddam 2003). First, on the journey away from home the schoolchildren play at engaging in slightly risky and dangerous behaviour while still being part of a group in which they feel comfortable and secure, and while they still follow spatial routes with which hey are well acquainted. Taking risks and being at home in the field follow one another. Second, the popular food and snack product shall be easy to handle and easy to be done with; easy to eat, easy to dispose of, and easy to digest. They shall be practical. Yet they shall also be challenging in respect to tastes and textures, and wrappings (that may contain pictures, texts, logos etc.). Third, the chosen products are often easy to share with friends and as such part of affirming social affiliations. Thus sharing food is a way in which to engage in groups and express community relations, where it still is possible to manifest very individual things, like being the one that is on top of a situation, or being one that have special tastes that one wants to teach others to have.

By our investigations, we found that the two poles concerning polyvalent capacities were the morning meal and the afternoon purchase, and that the other times and forms of consumption lie in between these poles. The scale corresponds to different kinds and degrees of self-affirmation in relation to your family at home. Consequently we have shown how polyvalent capacities function within the various related forms of self-positioning.

Literature:

Alsmark, Gunnar 1997: En svensk uganda-indier! In Skjorta eller själ. Kulturella identiteter i tid och rum, ed. Gunnar Alsmark. Lund: Studentlitteratur.

Brembeck, Helene 2007: Hem till McDonald’s. Stockholm: Carlsson.

Diamond, Cora, 1992: “Sahib and Jew”. In Jewish Identity, D.T. Goldberg & M. Krausz (eds.). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Harré, R. & Moghaddam, F. (eds.) 2003: The Self and Others. Positioning Individuals and Groups in Personal, Political, and Cultural Contexts. Santa Barbara: Praeger

Kloskowska, Antonina 1994: “National Conversion. A Case-Study of Polish-German Neighbourhood”, in The Neighbourhood of Culture, eds. Richard Grathoff and Antonina Kloskowska. Warszawa: Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences

Kloskowska, Antonina 2001: National cultures at the grass-root level. Budapest: Central European University Press

Rosengren, Henrik 2007: ”Judarnas Wagner”. Moses Pergament och den kulturella identifikationens dilemma omkring 1920-1950. Lund: Sekels Bokförlag.

Hannerz, Ulf 2001: Flera fält i ett. Socialantropologer om translokala fältstudier. Stockholm: Carlsson.

Sylow, Mine 2008: “Tempting French Fries. Cultural Analysis as an Approach in the Development of Healthy Fast Food”, ETN 2008: 5. Lund: Etnologiska Institutionen.

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