Browsing by Author "Jäppinen, Mona"

Objectives. Previous studies on family meals have shown that family meals are still valued even though they have decreased. Previous studies on family meals have been part of a broader, so it has not been researched on its own. Today’s hectic lifestyle, with every family member having their own schedules, makes it a challenge to find family time together. Though this reflection I wanted to find if high school students were eating together with their family and how did they view family meals. The research questions were: 1.How do high school students define a meal and family meal? 2.What kind of views do high school students have about family meals? 3.What kind of experiences do high school students have about family meals? Methods. The research was qualitative and involved five high school students. The chosen method was a case study. I got the material through a semi-structured individual interviews. The analysis of research data was based on material-based content analysis. Results and conclusions. The definitions of meal and family meal were very similar to previous researches. A meal was defined as a warm meal and a family meal as a common meal. The family meal was seen as a positive and important family event, where it was possible to discuss different things. Family meals were generally weekly. The family member’s schedules made it sometimes challenging to agree on common meals. Often timetables were agreed upon in advance. During the weekends, there was time for cooking and common family meals even during the day, while during the week family meals were held mainly during dinner time. High school students and the other family members took part in the preparation of family meals. Family meals was also seen as important for the current diet. Changes were noted in the number of family meals and food diversification. The future of family meals was seen in positive light because family meals were seen as part of our Finnish culture but also uncertain due to people’s hurries.