Browsing by Subject "maahanmuutto"

Background: Migration has found to be associated with changes in eating habits. Typically, dietary acculturation occurs which means that the person adopts host country’s ways of eating. Previous studies suggests that dietary acculturation can have negative effects on person’s diet if the person adopts the host country’s way of eating processed foods that replace the traditional healthy foods of their own culture. The phenomenon is also reflected in other generations, with children and young people with a foreign background being found to eat more sweets and soft drinks than other peers. To promote the eating habits of families with children with a foreign background, a deeper understanding is needed of the factors behind eating habits. Ethnography offers an opportunity to increase understanding of everyday eating and produces descriptive data to complement traditional nutrition research. Objectives: The aim of this MS's thesis was to draw a picture of everyday eating in families with children and with a foreign background in Finland. The study participants were mothers with first- and second-generation foreign backgrounds and with different ethnic backgrounds. Methods: This was a qualitative study using an ethnographic design. The field of research was an open community space in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The data consisted of ethnographic interviews with mothers (n=23) and field workers (n=2), as well as participatory observations and pictures. The data was analyzed by coding and theming. The results were compared with the model of dietary acculturation created by Satia-Abouta and with previous literature. Results: The role of mothers in the food supply of families was central. They made a distinction between “everyday food”, “cultural food” and “Finnish food”. Everyday food was something easy and fast, while cultural food required time and expertise. Some of them prepared cultural food as everyday food, as it was a means of maintaining cultural heritage. Except for fruits, vegetables and vegetarian dishes played a smaller role in mothers’ stories than animal-based products (meat, chicken, fish) and carbohydrate-containing products (rice, pasta, potatoes). Ethnic shops in the area were perceived as comprehensive, although many bought only (halal) meat there. The mothers' eating habits showed dietary acculturation, as they had begun to prepare “Finnish foods” such as mashed potato or lasagna that were new to them. It was important for the mothers that their children ate well, and children’s lack of eating emerged as a concern. The mothers balanced between what foods children liked and what they considered as good for the child. They had searched and received ideas and information regarding eating on the Internet and from a Finnish counseling center. Conclusions: This study brought understanding of everyday eating in families with children with a foreign background in Finland. The ethnographic approach made it possible to describe mothers’ own perspectives and was an effective way to recruit people with a foreign background. More ethnographic research is needed from the perspective of children and adolescents with foreign backgrounds to make their voices heard as well.