Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

Food and health have long had dominant position within the subject of Home Economics (HE) in Sweden. However, what constitutes a proper diet, and how it is associated with a healthy lifestyle changes over time. In this article, a discourse analytic approach combined with a didactic perspective are used as the theoretical frame. The aim is to explore how food in relation to health has been constructed within the syllabus of HE. Six HE syllabi from 1962 to 2011 were analysed. From the results three different discourses were identified and named after their main areas of focus: (i) the medical discourse, (ii) the consumer discourse and (iii) the human ecological discourse. Each discourse represents a different way of constructing food in relation to health, and different representations have dominated over the past fifty years. The construction of food in relation to health is thereby seen in its historical and cultural context according to what this knowledge content includes or excludes.

Objective: The aim is to analyze and discuss Home Economics teachers’ educational choices regarding the educational content food and health.

Method: A discourse analytic approach combined with a didactic perspective is used in the study. Data was collected from focus group discussions with Home Economics teachers.

Results: Four discourses were identified, representing different ways of constructing food and health. The various discourses point to different educational configurations.

Conclusion: We have shown different discourses and educational configurations concerning food and health. Each discourse is a constructed view of how to develop students’ awareness of the relationship between food and health. Further, we discuss that teacher’s actions, through their different choices, of a certain particular educational content instead of other alternatives can have consequences for students’ potential learning outcome in terms of meaning making.

The aim of the present article is to analyse and discuss how teachers speak about goals and content of food literacy in teaching about food and health in Home Economics (HE). More specific, what different constructions of food literacy can be identified in teachers' talk about the drive and content of teaching food and health? Six focus group discussions were held in four different cities with a total of 27 HE teachers. Different visions of scientific literacy are used as a framework to analyse and discuss food literacy in education. Three different categories were identified, including different visions regarding students’ opportunities to develop awareness of how food influences health. Food literacy in HE includes disciplinary learning of specific knowledge and skills. Teaching HE is a multidisciplinary task, in which a number of disciplines are involved. The article examines what each vision refers to and what overarching purpose is expected to motivate a student to learn and to develop in a specific direction. Each vision therefore provides altered constructions of educational orientation in terms of meaning-making