Contributions of the Life Course Perspective to Research on Food Decision Making
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Contributions of the Life Course Perspective to Research on Food Decision Making Elaine Wethington, Ph.D. & Wendy L. Johnson-Askew, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Published online: 5 November 2009 # The Society of Behavioral Medicine 2009
Abstract Background The life course perspective (LCP) has emerged as a powerful organizing framework for the study of health, illness, and mortality. LCP represents a “whole life” analysis perspective which originated in the field of sociology. Methods Its concepts are increasingly applied to understanding the development of chronic disease over long periods of time in the human life span. A missing link, however, in the adaptation of the LCP to health research, is the insight the LCP may offer into understanding the societal, social network, and family contexts that frame stability and change in dietary behavior. Results This paper reviews key concepts that comprise the LCP but primarily focuses on applications that have relevance to food decision making in social context. A case study of chronic work–family stress and perceived time scarcity as barriers to dietary improvement is included. Conclusion Illustrative findings are presented on dietary behavior in a diverse sample of lower-income working parents. This paper also offers ideas on increasing the contributions of the LCP to nutritional research. E. Wethington (*) Department of Human Development, MVR Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4401, USA e-mail: [email protected] E. Wethington Department of Sociology, Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4401, USA W. L. Johnson-Askew Public Health Nutrition/Health Policy Advisor NIH/ Division of Nutrition and Research Coordination, 6707 Democracy Blvd., 2 Democracy Plaza, Room 635, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Keywords Life course perspective . Food decision making . Work–family stress
Introduction Ecological approaches to food decision making emphasize the role of peer social networks [24, 26] and social activities such as family meals in shaping food preferences and dietary intake [45, 46] in families. The life course perspective adds the key concepts of age, historical time, and timing in the life course to the ecological approach [16]. The main argument of this paper is that increased use of principles of the life course theoretical perspective has the potential to promote new translational research on family food decision making that will bridge the gaps between basic research and practice. The paper reviews extant research that has applied the life course perspective (LCP) to food choices and dietary behavior. A case study of chronic work–family stress and perceived time scarcity as barriers to dietary improvement is included for illustrative purposes. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.
Key Concepts of the Life Course Perspective The life course perspective is a holistic approach to examining the lives of people over time. It includes continuities and stability on the one hand and changes and transitions, in relation
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