Browsing by discipline "Home economics"

My research examines consumers' attitudes towards baking mixes. I investigate what kind of baking mixes consumers have used and what product characteristics support and prevent their use. In addition, I examine in what situations consumers use baking mixes in their everyday lives. The study utilizes literature that examines the value of self-made, fear of food additives, favoring organic products, and the use of other convenience foods. The correlation between these themes and interest in the use of baking mixes will be examined. The study is a Mixed Methods research, which means that the data was collected and analysed by quantitative and qualitative methods. The data was collected via an internet survey, which was answered by 509 over 18-year-old consumers. Mean variables were constructed, and the correlations were analysed by Pearson’s correlation. The data was analysed by cross-tabulation, Mann-Whitney's U-test and classification. The results showed that consumers who were not interested in using baking mixes reported higher level of baking enthusiasm and appreciated a bit more self-made products and diligence than those who were interested in using baking mixes. Those who were interested in using baking mixes reported that they used more frequently convenience foods and wanted to spend less time on baking than the non-interested group. The responses of the groups did not differ in the claims concerning organic products and food additives. Both groups perceived food additives negatively and thought that organic products were better than regular products. A good taste or as good as self-made was a factor that encouraged consumers to use baking mixes. The limiting factors for the use of baking mixes were preferring self-made, food additives and bad taste. Some respondents said they enjoyed the baking process, so there was no need for baking mixes. The most commonly used products were pancake mixes and mousse powders. The overall use of baking mixes was minor and irregular. Most consumers could use baking mixes as a snack or treat at home and while travelling. Fewer respondents would offer them for guests.

Objectives. The objective of this study is to discover the meaning of being multi-skilled in everyday life for men, as well as to show how being multi-skilled is manifested and visible in their lives. The issue is topical in the sense that it is by no means a given anymore that it the smooth running of day-to-day life in the family is the responsibility of a woman. In addition, more and more households are formed by only one person. Furthermore, alternative types of housing are an increasingly important alternative to a traditional nuclear family, especially for young men. The basis of the study is a synthesis of skills based on the existing literature. This creates the opportunity to study the day-to-day lives of men from several viewpoints at once, and to create the basis for the concept of being multi-skilled. Methods. The empirical data used in the study was collected by conducting individual, semi-structured, thematic interviews with seven men between the ages of 21 and 59, living in the capital region or western Uusimaa. The data was analysed principally using qualitative methods in a theory-driven analysis with a phenomenographic approach. In order to increase the reliability of the results, the data was also submitted to quantitative analysis. The data collected in the first part of the survey was analysed based on the knowledge gained from source literature. In the second stage of analysis, larger skillsets were formed in order to describe the actual meaning of being multi-skilled. In the third stage of analysis the skills described by the men were organised into a description of what being multi-skilled is. At the same time, the whole concept became visible in their lives. The men interviewed in the course of the study came to be seen as "products" of their national culture, upbringing, education, life experiences, friendships and other aspects of their private lives. Results and conclusions. The results of this master's thesis show that the skills that men need to navigate their everyday lives can be described with the concept of being multi-skilled. The concept includes three individual factors: the skill of being a human, actual productive skills and a vision of skills to be learned in the future. Being multi-skilled appears in the lives of men as various social, functional and cognitive skills. The experience of doing things together and offering and receiving assistance was described as essential. It is possible to conclude that mastering everyday life via being multi-skilled is both the right and the duty of each person regardless of their gender.

Aims. The aim of this research is to find out what adults who are interested in their salt intake think of diet modifying, food choice and groceries with lowered salt-content. While food choice is a popular subject in the area of home economics science, salt as the criterion of food choice has not been looked into before. This research focuses on the reasons that get respondents to reduce their daily intake of salt. Also the actions and means to reduce the salt intake are under examination. Respondents' opinions of and wishes for the salt concentrations of food-items and the actions of grocery stores and food industry are also studied. Methods. The data for this qualitative research were collected by semi-structured interviews. The interviewees were selected discretionarily because it was important for them to be interested in and have experience of the phenomenon that is in the center of this research. Eleven interviews were done all in all. Three of the interviewees were male and eight were female. In addition to the interviews, the interviewees did a practical assignment. In this assignment they were asked to arrange some groceries in line by their salt concentration. The data were analyzed inductively by using qualitative content analysis. After transcription of the data the main themes were simplified and grouped. In grouping the focus was rather in the similarities than in the differences of the themes. Results and conclusions. The results imply that people first comply with a low salt diet because of their health. There were many different health reasons, such as pregnancy, high blood pressure in a test, or trait that runs in the family. Often the decision to reduce salt in everyday diet was made together with a health professional. People got help in reducing salt in their food choices. Some were actively looking for more information by googling or reading health magazines. Reducing salt intake was not too hard by the experience of the respondents. Most challenging in it was to find products with lowered salt-content. People hoped for the food industry to reduce salt in groceries. Salt and the health problems it causes would need more coverage in the media to raise people's awareness. In addition to that, grocery stores and food industry would need to take some crucial steps, if the aim is to lower the daily intake of salt of Finns into the level of nutrition recommendations.

Aims. Sustainable development has become the most important theme in the development co-operation in the 21st century. Sustainable development is pursued by environmental education among other things. This research rose from the discussion about the meaning of environmental education in developing countries and especially the effect it might have in the environment and society. Nepal and one of its rural private schools was selected as a research object. The themes and questions of the research are: 1. Conceptions of the immediate environment of students and teachers: What does immediate environment mean according to the students and teachers? 2. Students' most important acts in the environment: What kind of effect do the students think they can have on the environment in their everyday life? 3. Teachers' opinions, experiences and methods in environmental education: What do teachers think should be taught to the students in environmental education? What are the teachers actually teaching? What kind of methods are the teachers using while teaching environmental education? Researching the conceptions of immediate environment and acts in the environment gives information about the students' and teachers' relation with the nature in their everyday life and the baseline from which environmental education will be implemented from. Teachers' opinions, experiences and methods in environmental education provide information on the current implementation of the environmental education. Methods. Ethnography was selected as a research method. Before collecting the actual data, a pre-study was conducted. The aim of the pre-study was to specify the research themes and practice the cross-cultural interview as a research method. The actual data was collected in the last week of January 2010 in Dhangadhi, Nepal. The data included twenty-two drawings and captions from the students and one group interview with the teachers. The data was analyzed with brief quantitative analysis and full analysis was done with a qualitative method called content analysis. Results and conclusions. Teachers' and student's conceptions of immediate environment differ from each other. Students saw the immediate environment from the scientific approach while the teachers thought it was more social conception. The interface was found in their own personal environment. This interface is a good baseline for environmental education. The most important acts in the environment for the students were protection towards the environment. The students saw their possibilities to have an influence in the environment through the school. A connection between the school and acting in the environment was evident. In the teachers' opinions and experiences of environmental education, environmental problems and the importance of teaching attitudes and values were found. No logic thematic entities were discovered but the teachers did use different kinds of methods in their teaching. Achieving the international aims for environmental education was very challenging in the research school because of the teachers' lack of information and skills to teach the subject. The context where the school works was also challenging.

Objectives. Children's food behavior trends in Finland are threaten by snacking, especially increased sweet snack consumption, fewer family meals and alienation from the food source. Encouraging children to health-promoting eating habits is important, as childhood diet has been found to often continue into adulthood. New methods are welcome in addition to traditional Nutrition data sharing, that take into account the child characteristic way to explore food. The topic was based on the question whether the focus on food experiences can be a factor when building the children's interest in food. The aim of this study was to describe and interpret the food experiences received by children. The study focused on the interaction between children and food culture. This study was conducted in cooperation with Centre for Food Culture Ruukku in the project Tiedosta taidoksi. New methods, such as taste classes, were used to involve children in the word of food. Methodology. The research participant group was consisted of fourth grade students (n = 44). The data contained text, observation and visual materials. The methods used were observation, questionnaire, essay writing and photography. The data was collected during the period from October to December in 2011. The analysis had two stages. At the first stage, the data was examined with Experience Triangle model. The goal of the second stage was to build a deeper understanding of children's food experience. Results and conclusions. The results show that the children's food experience requires the use of senses, the child's own participation, joy and interactivity with other people. Children have a natural interest in food, as long as made possible. Children need a stimulating and supportive atmosphere, where they can learn about the world of food. When they get the child-oriented tools, they can develop their skills, which can influence their own well-being.

Tiivistelmä - Referat – Abstract Aims. In the everyday dining of families with children, challenges can be caused by, among other things, the rush and different rhythms of everyday life of family members, skills of the parents to control everyday life, and the different preferences and habits of family members. Family dining and cooking are of much greater importance to family life than just fulfilling a need for nutrition. Media and TV programs are one source of instruction and advice on how to live and what would be appropriate to eat. The purpose of this study was to find out what kind of challenges a popular reality TV program presents in execution of everyday dining and what kind of advice the program offers to solve those. The theoretical background of the study is based on research examining the importance of family meals and the contradictions of food choice, as well as nutritional recommendations and guides that provide recommendations and guidance. Methods. The subject of the study was thirteen episodes of the TV program Kitchen takeover that included families with children, presented in the years 2018–2019. The research approach was qualitative. The data were collected in the summer of 2019 by watching and spelling out all the episodes of the program that were related to the subject of the study. Content analysis was chosen as the method of data analysis. The analysis was done on a material-themed basis. Results and conclusions. Based on the research results, the challenges of families concerning everyday eating are diverse. Recurring themes were cooking discomfort and friction, who has the responsibility of cooking, the low variety of foods, low use of vegetables, food restrictions and everyday management challenges. The program suggests that the implementation of everyday meals for families would be improved by eating together, making together, planning and scheduling, increasing the use of vegetables, and seasoning. Based on what was presented in the program, the families managed to achieve positive changes in their daily dining. Based on the research results, there are families with children in Finland who would need practical support for their cooking.

The discussion about parenting revolves around what is good parenting and the well-being of children. There is less talk about how to be a good parent and how to support parenting. The aim of this thesis is to find out what kind of support families with children feel they need, where to seek help from and how families with children would like to improve their services. The thesis also opens up the Finnish family service system for children. The thesis has been implemented by means of qualitative research methods. Seven mothers of families with children from two Finnish provinces have been interviewed for the study. The material was collected through a semi-structured theme interview and analyzed using qualitative content analysis and thematization. The interviews were conducted between December and January 2019-2020. The study revealed that social support has a significant impact on mothers' coping with their family with children. Families receive the most support from their own social networks. It is hoped that community services will support the well-being of the whole family. Mothers' experiences revealed beliefs and outside attitudes about coping culture that partially prevented them from seeking or getting services. Mothers hope that support will be offered automatically.

Aims: The purpose of this research was to clarify things that matter to children at a birthday party and how the consumer culture shows in children's views of a birthday party. Birthday parties just for friends is a modern phenomenon, that began to stabilize in the end of the 1960's. Birthday parties became more substantial in hospitality, decoration, the number of guests and program. The upturn in children's position and in the standard of living, plus the growth of children's market and their becoming a consumer have affected in the change of a birthday party. The previous studies showed that birthday parties were usually celebrated with old customs until the end of 1990. The latest change in the birthday party customs is giving gifts for the quests. In addition, organizing a birthday party outside home in a commercial playground has become very popular, which will further increase the commercialism of the birthday party. Data and methods: This study is a qualitative study. The research data was collected by means of five group interviews. There were 23 children participating in total. Eight of the children were girls and the rest were boys. The data was analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results and discussion: The results showed that most of the children's birthday parties were celebrated with old customs. Gift giving, hospitality, a guided program, free play time and goody-bags were the basic elements. Birthday parties were celebrated both in and out of homes. Parties at home were more common, although children were wishing for parties in commercial playgrounds. The results showed that goodies, guests and material gifts are important to children at a birthday party. The media culture and individuality were present at the birthday parties. Taste preferences and theme decorations pointed this out. Children's gift wishes reflect the children's desire to own material things and how children's consumption has become a part of the everyday life. Particularly boys wish for expensive gifts. According to children's view they have some influence in the planning process. The results show that the parties are not as child-oriented as children would wish them to be. This is because the adults make the decisions in some subjects such as the limit of the guests and the duration of the party. Particularly informal birthday parties are very important to children. Free play time, informal eating and less supervision are the things that children wish for a birthday party.

Aims. The aim of this study was to find out how kindergarten teachers implement children's food education in day-care homes in Helsinki. Food education was raised as a part of early childhood education goals in 2017 and the first meal recommendations for early childhood education and care were published in January 2018 to guide early childhood food education. In recent years more attention has been paid to eating situations and food education of early childhood education when overweigh and reladed diseases have worryingly increased among children. Healthy eating habits as a child also often carry on to adulthood. In earlier studies the importance of food education to children's food behavior and habits has been found from several perspectives. However, a new study was necessary because early childhood eating and food education have been given new goals and recommendations to follow in the future. Methods. The research was carried out as a qualitative study and the material was collected by focused interviews. Eight kindergarten teachers working in kindergartens from different parts of Helsinki participated in the interviews. The interviews were conducted in November 2018 - February 2019. The data was analyzed using data-based content analysis. Results and conclusions. According to research results, kindergarten teachers' food education largely corresponds to the goals of food education in the early childhood education plan and the food education given has a positive effect on the formation of children's eating habits. As The most important goal of food education the kindergarten teachers raised food joy. In addition to food joy, the main goals of food education were to influence eating habits and to teach food habits. The kindergarten teachers used food talk, food dispensing, involment of children, food pictures, model learning and cooperation with parents as ways of food education. Besides the eating situations, food education was usually combined in children's play, where the teacher participated by responding to the child's questions. The challenges to food education were found mostly in the food education sessions outside of the eating situations.

The aim of this study was to observe bread memories as a part of a Finnish food culture. The purpose was to examine what kind of experiences do Finns have about bread and what do the memories tell about Finnish food culture and its change. Bread is one of the oldest foods in the world and it has a significant role in many food cultures. Dark bread has a specific place in the Finnish food culture. Rye bread was chosen as national food of Finland in January 2017. Ruoka-Kalevala is a website where S-Group and Martha Organization are collecting food memories from Finns. Anyone is free to write a food story in Ruoka-Kalevala. The data of this study was collected from Ruoka-Kalevala and it consisted of 134 food stories which all were connected with/related to bread memories. The theoretical framework of the study was narrative approach. The data was analyzed in two parts. At the first part the focus was to read the stories through model of food experience and find details of the stories. Narrative analysis was used in second part when bread memories were organized into type stories. Type stories were reflected to previous research and the Finnish food culture. The typical stories of bread were self baked bread, dishes made of bread, packed bread, bought bread and recipes of bread. One collectively shared bread memory seems to be home made fresh and warm bread baked by grandmother or mother. Good memories were also "bread porridge" made out of dried bread and packed bread eaten in a forest or at school. People had memorized baking traditions, childhood and the people with whom they shared their memories. According the data, it was possible to distinguish two basic stories of bread: The story of traditional bread and the story of modern bread. The story of traditional bread is related to time when bread was baked at home and self-sufficiency was more common. The story of modern bread tells about time when bakeries have the main responsibility of making bread and a purpose of baking is more about spending time than daily need.