title: Moral Fiber: Breakfast as a Symbol of 'a Good Start' in an Australian Obesity Intervention.
abstract: What are the symbolic meanings of breakfast in the context of one of Australia's largest childhood obesity intervention programs? Utilizing a range of theoretical insights into the morality of food and eating and the anthropology of food, we trace how breakfast is packaged and promoted to families in an Australian community as a 'healthy start' to the day. Through ethnographic and historic investigation, we argue that eating breakfast and certain types of breakfast foods are symbolic of a classed, healthy lifestyle pattern, embodying parental knowledge and bodily regulation to routinely structure daily life. In communities where poverty and unemployment are harsh realities, well-intentioned programs that encourage people to eat a healthy breakfast are encoded with an assemblage of moral values-of knowledge, foods, families, and times and spaces-that are often difficult to reconcile with the wider sociocultural context in which many people live.
authors.affiliation: a School of Social Sciences , University of Adelaide , Adelaide , South Australia.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Warin
authors.affiliation: a School of Social Sciences , University of Adelaide , Adelaide , South Australia.
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zivkovic
authors.affiliation: b School of Population Health & Clinical Practice , University of Adelaide , Adelaide , South Australia.
authors.forename: Vivienne
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: c School of Health Sciences , Flinders University , Adelaide , South Australia.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ward
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D060432:Anthropology, Medical; D001315:Australia / Q000208:ethnology; D062408:Breakfast / Q000208:ethnology*; D002648:Child; D004043:Dietary Fiber; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D010290:Parents; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011203:Poverty
keywords: Bodily regulation; ethnography; moral values; obesity interventions; socio-economic disadvantage