What is eating well? Capability approach and empirical exploration with the population in Japan

The De-structuration of Eating Models in East Asia: An Empirical Synthesis

The de-structuration of eating models refers to a multitude of contemporary dietary changes, such as meal skipping and eating out, that diverge from 'proper' eating models in given societies. This phenomenon has been studied primarily in Western societies and diagnosed as a more modest change than previously assumed by alarming social discourse. However, this view must be relativised from non-Western perspectives. De-structuration involves the weakening of dietary normative systems and the increased food anxiety, the typical symptoms of reflexive modernity. This concept is theoretically based on the paradigm of 'plural' modernities, but it has been scarcely tested empirically in non-Western regions. Web-based questionnaire surveys were conducted from 2021 to 2024 in four East Asian societies that have experienced compressed modernisation. The two studies in Japan (n = 973) and Taiwan (n = 920) have already been reported elsewhere. In this article, discussion on this Japan-Taiwan comparison is further extended with new datasets in South Korea (n = 1,039) and China (n = 1,035), providing an empirical synthesis of eating models and their de-structuration in four East Asian societies. In contrast to Western societies, de-structuration in East Asia has been more intense than a modest change. Similarly, in Taiwan and South Korea, the degree of change has been so large that de-structuration has extended to dietary norms. In Japan, the norm-practice discrepancy has been intensified by the country's gendered dietary norms. Finally, in China, there has been a time lag between dietary changes and the drastic socioeconomic reforms since the 1980s, manifesting an embryonic form of de-structuration. These phenomena are diverse aspects of compressed food modernity, and our article contributes by providing empirical support for plural views of food modernisation.

Dimensions of food-related wellbeing and their relative importance among New Zealand consumers: A quasi-replication and extension approach

Research into perceived wellbeing (WB) can improve understanding of consumer food choices and support development of strategies to promote healthier and more sustainable eating habits. In this research, using online studies, food-related WB was explored among New Zealand consumers. In a "quasi-replication" of Jaeger, Prescott, and Worch (2022), Study 1 uncovered word associations to different WB-related terms ('Sense of wellbeing,' 'Lack of wellbeing,' 'Feeling good,' 'Feeling bad/unhappy,' 'Satisfied with life,' and 'Dissatisfied with life') with 912 participants in a between-subjects design. The results confirmed the multidimensional nature of WB, and the need to consider positive and negative aspects of food-related WB, as well as differences linked to physical, emotional, and spiritual WB. Drawing on Study 1, 13 characteristics of food-related WB were identified, and in Study 2 their importance for feeling a 'Sense of wellbeing' and 'Satisfied with life' was determined with 1206 participants using a between-subjects design. In a further extension, Study 2 also adopted a product-specific perspective and explored the associations of, and importance, for 16 different foods and beverages to food-related WB. Based on Best-Worst Scaling and penalty/lift analysis, the four most important characteristics overall were 'Is good quality,' 'Is healthy,' 'Is fresh,' and 'Is tasty,' with the nuance that healthiness contributed most to feeling a 'Sense of wellbeing' while good quality contributed most to feeling 'Satisfied with life.' The associations to individual foods and beverages underscored that food-related WB is a complex construct arising from an overall evaluation of the different effects of foods (including physical health, social and spiritual aspects of food consumption) and their short-term effects on food-related behaviour. Contextual and individual differences in perceptions of WB in relation to food deserve further investigation.

Multidimensional Food Poverty: Evidence from Low-Income Single Mothers in Contemporary Japan

The objective of this article is to gain an in-depth understanding of the eating lives of low-income single mothers in Japan. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine low-income single mothers living in the three largest urban areas (Tokyo, Hanshin [Osaka and Kobe] and Nagoya) in Japan. Framed by the capability approach and sociology of food, their dietary norms and practices, as well as underlying factors that impact the norm-practice gap were analysed across nine dimensions: meal frequency, place of eating, meal timing, duration, persons to eat with, procurement method, food quality, meal content and pleasure of eating. These mothers were deprived of various types of capabilities, extending not only from the quantity and nutritional aspects of food, but also to spatial, temporal, qualitative and affective aspects. Aside from financial constraints, eight other factors (time, maternal health, parenting difficulties, children's tastes, gendered norms, cooking abilities, food aid and local food environment) were identified as influencing their capabilities to eat well. The findings challenge the view that food poverty is the deprivation of economic resources required to ensure a sufficient amount of food. Social interventions that go beyond monetary aid and food provision need to be proposed.

Specific health beliefs mediate sex differences in food choice

Objective

Although sex differences in dietary habits are well documented, the etiology of those differences is still a focus of research. The present study examines the role of specific health beliefs regarding healthy amounts of food for food choice and its relation to sex, more specifically, the assumption that sex differences in food choices are mediated by differentiating health beliefs.

Method

212 German participants (44.3% female) aged 18-70 answered an online self-report questionnaire on their dietary habits and health beliefs, based on the recommendations of the German Nutrition Society.

Results

Most of the anticipated sex differences in food choice and some differences in health beliefs were found. The mediation hypothesis was partly supported, as the relationship between sex and fruit, vegetable, and fish consumption was mediated by the respective health beliefs. However, no mediation effects were found for meat, egg, cereal, and milk product consumption.

Conclusion

The support for the mediation hypothesis aligns with previous findings and indicates that health beliefs might be an important pathway to fostering healthier food choices, especially for men. Nonetheless, sex differences in food choice were only partially mediated by sex differences in specific health beliefs, indicating that future studies might benefit from parallel mediation analyses to reveal the impact of other relevant factors influencing sex differences in food choice.

Consumer conceptualisations of food-related wellbeing: An exploration of wellbeing-related terms in four industrialised countries

Perceived (or subjective) wellbeing is regarded as key to understanding consumer food choices and the development of strategies to promote desirable eating habits. Yet, in-depth understanding of the specific factors that contribute to people's perceived wellbeing across cultures is lacking. These factors motivated the present research that used word associations to conduct an exploratory analysis of consumer conceptualisations of food-related wellbeing (WB). Adults (n = 4945) living in the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore or Germany, speaking respectively, English or German, took part in the study. Health, pleasure, food quality, positive emotions and social aspects of food consumption were the main associations with food-related wellbeing. Absence hereof was associated with unhealthiness, disgust, negative emotions and poor mental health. The differences in these main associations emphasised the importance of exploring wellbeing, as well as lack hereof. Not doing so leads to an incomplete understanding of this multidimensional construct. The research was conducted with four terms related to wellbeing (each in their positive and negative versions): 'sense of wellbeing' and 'lack of wellbeing', 'feeling good' and 'feeling bad/unhappy', 'satisfied with life' and 'dissatisfied with life' and 'fulfilled in life' and 'unfulfilled in life'. Because these different terms gave rise to different wellbeing associations, researchers in this area must choose their empirical approach with care. The terms 'sense of wellbeing' and 'feeling good' tended to more frequently give rise to health-related associations. Conversely, 'satisfied with life' and 'fulfilled in life' tended to more frequently give rise to positive spiritual and emotional associations of food-related wellbeing. The main conceptualisations of food-related wellbeing were cross-culturally similar, but extension of the present research to other Asian countries was recommended based on several differences between Singaporean participants and those from other countries. In ethnically diverse countries like Singapore, further within-country investigations of different cultures also have merit.

The norms and practices of eating well: In conflict with contemporary food discourses in Japan

In contemporary society, numerous food discourses are being constructed and promoted regarding how and what people should eat. However, such expositions are often too nutrition-centred and contradict each other, leaving contemporary eaters at a loss rather than rescuing them from their gastro-anomic situations. It is therefore necessary to seek an understanding of what 'eating well' means to contemporary people and to navigate current food discourses based on such a social consensus. Using a combined method of ethics (capability approach) and the sociology of food, the aim of this study was to arrive at an understanding of the total - spatial to temporal, quality, structural and aesthetic - dimensions of eating well through a web-based questionnaire survey conducted in Japan (n = 973). The norms and practices across all the dimensions were identified, facilitating the creation of a social standard that indicates the parameters of their capability to eat well. Some findings are in conflict with current discourses, in which particular meal structures have been idealised and solo eating has been stigmatised. The analysis also highlights the absence of socio-cultural values in people's dietary mindsets as a consequence of the nutrition-centred food discourses.

Japanese View of Nature: Discursive Tradition, Its Problems and Implications for Food Studies

Revisiting one’s view of nature is essential if one is to construct a sustainable food system. In particular, the Japanese view of nature has been widely recognised as the philosophy of coexistence between humans and nature, with some optimism and over-simplification. In this article, a wide range of literature regarding the Japanese view of nature is carefully analysed, and three discursive traditions of such views—ancient thought, Buddhism and neo-Confucianism—are discussed. Although it is true that the harmonious philosophy between humans and nature has always existed in Japan as a cultural device, some major problems—namely, the confusion of history and ideology, the composite of traditional and modern natural views within contemporary eaters and the inevitable conflict between humans (the killers) and nature (the killed)—should be resolved to ultimately activate such an aesthetic natural view in encouraging favourable eating behaviours for sustainable natural food environments.