Contributions of the life course perspective to research on food decision making.
BACKGROUND
The life course perspective (LCP) has emerged as a powerful organizing framework for the study of health, illness, and mortality. LCP represents a "whole life" analysis perspective which originated in the field of sociology.


METHODS
Its concepts are increasingly applied to understanding the development of chronic disease over long periods of time in the human life span. A missing link, however, in the adaptation of the LCP to health research, is the insight the LCP may offer into understanding the societal, social network, and family contexts that frame stability and change in dietary behavior.


RESULTS
This paper reviews key concepts that comprise the LCP but primarily focuses on applications that have relevance to food decision making in social context. A case study of chronic work-family stress and perceived time scarcity as barriers to dietary improvement is included.


CONCLUSIONS
Illustrative findings are presented on dietary behavior in a diverse sample of lower-income working parents. This paper also offers ideas on increasing the contributions of the LCP to nutritional research.
Wethington
Elaine
E
Department of Human Development, MVR Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4401, USA. ew20@cornell.edu
Johnson-Askew
Wendy L
WL
D003469:Culture; D003657:Decision Making; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology