Cipriano-Crespo C, Medina FX, Mariano-Juárez L. Culinary Solitude in the Diet of People with Functional Diversity.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022;
19:ijerph19063624. [PMID:
35329311 PMCID:
PMC8952237 DOI:
10.3390/ijerph19063624]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Revised: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
This qualitative ethnographic study identifies how problems in the feeding process of a group of people with functional diversity influence different eating situations. The study, which was carried out in the Autonomous Community of Castilla La Mancha, Spain, is based on interviews conducted at the headquarters of the different participating associations for functionally diverse people, at the participants’ homes, and in public spaces. The study included 27 subjects aged between 18–75 years. Their functional diversity had caused significant changes in their sociability, particularly in contexts associated with food consumption. The analysis identified three main themes: social ghettoisation and culinary loneliness; stigma, shame, feeling like a burden, and loneliness; and exclusion or self-exclusion at the dining table. Our participants’ narratives underscored the importance of acknowledging the significance of changes in eating-related sociability due to functional diversity. For the study subjects, grief, loneliness, and shame contributed to disassociating food consumption from social celebrations, withdrawing from restaurant meals, or conversations while eating to avoid other people’s stares.
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