title: Young people's food practices and social relationships. A thematic synthesis.
abstract: Food practices are embedded in everyday life and social relationships. In youth nutrition promotion little attention is awarded to this centrality of food practices, yet it may play a pivotal role for young people's overall health and wellbeing beyond the calories food provides. Limited research is available explicitly investigating how food practices affect social relationships. The aim of this synthesis was therefore to find out how young people use everyday food practices to build, strengthen, and negotiate their social relationships. Using a thematic synthesis approach, we analysed 26 qualitative studies exploring young people's food practices. Eight themes provided insight into the ways food practices affected social relationships: caring, talking, sharing, integrating, trusting, reciprocating, negotiating, and belonging. The results showed that young people use food actively to foster connections, show their agency, and manage relationships. This synthesis provides insight into the settings of significance for young people where more research could explore the use of food in everyday life as important for their social relationships. A focus on social relationships could broaden the scope of nutrition interventions to promote health in physical and psychosocial dimensions. Areas for future research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Massey University, PO Box 756, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. Electronic address: evaneely@live.com.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Neely
authors.affiliation: School of Health & Social Services, Massey University, PO Box 756, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Mat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walton
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stephens
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006801:Humans; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: Food practices; Social relationships; Thematic synthesis; Young people