Influence of children’s lifestyle and food choice in the adherence to a Mediterranean Diet in Northern Italy

The present study analyses the ways parents try to educate their children on food by comparing two different schools in the Parisian suburbs with diverging social backgrounds. It raises the question of the social differences existing in the relationship teenagers have with food, and how parents from different social backgrounds cope with the tastes and preferences of their children. The adolescents under study, aged 12 to 13 years old were observed at school and, alongside their parents, interviewed at home. The results show that middle class parents have a stronger awareness towards health and diet than working-class parents and that they are more likely to lead their children into choosing balanced meals. However, at school, teenagers are free to eat what they want and are under the eyes of their peers, which influences them to eat sweets and unbalanced meals at the school canteen. In working-class families, the parents are more flexible and often prepare ready-made food that their children request, sometimes because of a lack of time and energy. In the disadvantaged school, displaying a certain discourse on fast-foods is a way to integrate into the peer groups, and therefore the school becomes a vehicle for junk-food practices, even more in disadvantaged areas.