BUE: Kirsten Hilgeford
A recent sociological study explored how children’s health habits are shaped by their families and their communities and how these habits are linked to the social class. Researchers said policies seeking to modify health behavior that does not take into account these influences may not succeed.
The article, “Children’s health lifestyles and the perpetuation of unequal“” published in the March issue of Journal of Health and Social Behaviorhas examined the middle and average families of the middle class with young children in two cities in the West of the United States using interviews, discussion and observation groups of families at home, authors Stefanie Mollborn (University of Stockholm and University of Colorado-Boulder), Jennifer A. Pace (US Census Bureau) and Bethany Rigle (Good nStep ideas) I looked at how parents think of health and how they try to guide the daily routines of their children.
Researchers have found that parents are trying to create a “health lifestyle” for their children, believing that it will help them succeed later in life. These lifestyles not only include healthy behavior such as exercise and diet, but also reflect the values, identities of parents and what is considered “healthy” in their communities.
There were key differences in the way health lifestyles were examined between the two social classes examined. For example, in families in the upper middle class, the emphasis was placed on the structure and success, the limitation of screen time, the enhancement of the physical form and the observation of the weight of children. These choices often reflected the parents’ own identity and desire for their children to achieve future success. The middle-class families focused more on the current well-being of the child or allowed more space so that the child’s own identity shapes health habits.
Researchers have noted that efforts to modify the health behavior of a child through school or community health programs can be less effective without understanding and appreciation of the way families perceive health and success, the meanings that parents attach to their parental choices and to the ways in which children express their own identities through health behavior.
“Understanding health lifestyles in this way could stimulate more effective and appropriate political efforts,” wrote researchers. “The change in people’s health behavior is notoriously difficult – in part because target behavior is probably combined with other behaviors within a health lifestyle which is also made up of identities, stories, standards and understanding of health.”
On the American Sociological Association and the Journal of Health and Social Behavior
THE American sociological associationFounded in 1905 is a non -profit association dedicated to the service of sociologists in their work, to advance sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions and the use of sociology to society. Published by ASA, the Journal of Health and Social Behavior is a review of medical sociology that publishes empirical and theoretical articles that apply concepts and sociological methods to understanding health and disease and the organization of medicine and health care.