title: Eating practices and habitus in mothers. A Brazilian population-based survey.
abstract: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted with mothers living in the city of Santos, Brazil, in order to investigate their eating practices, and the interface between those practices and the concept of habitus. From a cluster analysis of the scores for dietary pattern and for food preparation and consumption, the mothers were categorised into five clusters of eating practices: practical mothers (19.8%), symbiotic mothers (3.2%), health-conscious hedonists (17.3%), traditionalists (34.6%), and family cooks (25.1%). To access the habitus of the eating-practice clusters, the following variables were compared: location of residence, profession, socioeconomic status, weight-loss practices, risk behaviours for eating disorders, disordered eating attitudes, body dissatisfaction, and cultural and technological consumption. For all the groups, the observed eating practices were permeated by responsibility for the family's diet, but with different manifestations. For symbiotic mothers, practical mothers, and family cooks, the primary function of their relation with food was to nourish their families, with little expression of their own tastes and preferences. The traditionalists and the health-conscious hedonists, on the other hand, manifested their role as mothers by providing food considered 'nutritionally proper' to their family members. Furthermore, aspects of contemporary lifestyles, such as little time for food, individualisation of meals, and consumption of processed foods, were found to coexist with the valorisation and maintenance of the traditional meals within some groups. The variety of eating practices could not be understood as a linear association between economic and cultural capitals; however, eating practices seemed to interact with those capitals, composing a habitus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Clinics and Institutions, Institute of Health and Society, Federal University of São Paulo, Campus Baixada Santista, Rua Silva Jardim, 136 - Santos/SP - CEP: 11015-020, Santos/SP, Brazil. Electronic address: pri.sato@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Priscila
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Morais Sato
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Clinics and Institutions, Institute of Health and Society, Federal University of São Paulo, Campus Baixada Santista, Rua Silva Jardim, 136 - Santos/SP - CEP: 11015-020, Santos/SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Patrícia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: da Rocha Pereira
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Clinics and Institutions, Institute of Health and Society, Federal University of São Paulo, Campus Baixada Santista, Rua Silva Jardim, 136 - Santos/SP - CEP: 11015-020, Santos/SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Isis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: de Carvalho Stelmo
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Cátedra de Antropologia, Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires, Calle Puán, 480. CP: C1406CQJ, Capital Federal/Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Ramiro Fernandez
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Unsain
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Clinics and Institutions, Institute of Health and Society, Federal University of São Paulo, Campus Baixada Santista, Rua Silva Jardim, 136 - Santos/SP - CEP: 11015-020, Santos/SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mariana Dimitrov
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Ulian
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Clinics and Institutions, Institute of Health and Society, Federal University of São Paulo, Campus Baixada Santista, Rua Silva Jardim, 136 - Santos/SP - CEP: 11015-020, Santos/SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sabatini
authors.affiliation: Department of Sciences of Human Movement, Institute of Health and Society, Federal University of São Paulo, Campus Baixada Santista, Rua Silva Jardim, 136 - Santos/SP - CEP: 11015-020, Santos/SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paula Andrea
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo, 715 - São Paulo/SP - CEP 01255-000, São Paulo/SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda Baeza
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Scagliusi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education*; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Bourdieu; Brazil; Eating practices; Habitus; Mothers