Notably, the participants alternately identified poverty as a source of lack and as an instigator of creative and caring, if not always nutritionally-ideal, feeding. The second theme captures how participants’ recollections of neglectful or rigidly restrictive feeding, as well as food discipline tipping over into dominance, upend such idealized images. The first theme captures idealized notions of food in the family, with participants recounting memories of care, nurturance, and culinary pleasure.

Two main themes were developed: (1) “Food and cohesion”, with the subthemes “Care and nurturance” and “Virtue transmission through shared meals”, and (2) “Food and adversity”, with the subthemes “Lack and neglect” and “Restriction and dominance”. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, with a focus on the participants’ memories of food provision, preparation, and consumption in their childhood homes. Most participants had experienced socioeconomically disadvantaged childhoods. Semi-structured interviews with 49 adults in 16 families (22 parents and 27 grandparents of young children) were conducted in Oregon, United States. The aim of this paper is to examine how adults talk about and make sense of childhood memories of food and eating, with particular attention to understandings of family life and socioeconomic conditions. However, family-focused initiatives may not benefit children whose families lack economic and/or social resources for home cooking and shared meals.

Childhood obesity prevention initiatives emphasize healthy eating within the family.

Childhood memories