Browsing by Subject "terveysriski"

In this thesis the public debate of dietary fats is analysed from a discourse analytical point of view. The study constitutes an interpretation of the fat debate by examining cultural meanings reproduced in the representations of fat. The data was collected from the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The data set contains a total of 121 articles about dietary fats and health, published in 2010 and 2011. The public debate of dietary fats is analysed by applying critical discourse analysis developed by Norman Fairclough. Discourses can be seen as social practices that reproduce the way the social world is formed. The aim of the study is to analyse how the meanings are reproduced in the representations of fat and to clarify the relationships between the discourses identified from the data. In the findings of this study the debate of dietary fats constitutes of three key discourses. Official discourse represents dietary fats by classifying them either good or bad based on the healthiness of the fat. The unsaturated fats are classified as good and saturated fats as bad. Official discourse is based on the well-established concept of healthy eating defined by expertise and nutrition science. In the public debate of dietary fats the official discourse is set against a critical discourse, which classifies healthy fats contrary when compared to the official discourse. The representations of fat reproduced in the critical discourse are often based on classifications between naturalness and artificiality. The third discourse identified from the data emphasizes mental well-being over physical health. The discourse of taste and pleasure represents fats as a source of pleasure. In these representations fats are categorized by their naturalness and artificiality as well as by their authenticity. In the public debate of dietary fats the official discourse can be seen as a hegemonic discourse, which is set against with the critical discourse and the discourse of taste and pleasure. The interpretation presented in this study describes the fat debate in Helsingin Sanomat in 2010 and 2011. The analysis shows that fat means more than just nutrition. In the representations formed in the discourses fats are associated not only with health but also nostalgia, taste, pleasure and mental health. Cultural categorizations and ritualistic distinctions are essential in the way the meanings of fat are reproduced in the public debate of dietary fats.