Between provisioning and consuming?: Children, mothers and 'childhood obesity'
Contemporary Western societies focus considerable policy and media attention on the 'epidemic of childhood obesity'. In this paper we examine the mobilisation of notions of responsibility and consumption in these discussions, and consider the implications they have for women as mothers. In...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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The Australian Sociological Association
2010
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/13506 |
| _version_ | 1848748365412564992 |
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| author | Maher, J. Fraser, Suzanne Lindsay, J. |
| author_facet | Maher, J. Fraser, Suzanne Lindsay, J. |
| author_sort | Maher, J. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Contemporary Western societies focus considerable policy and media attention on the 'epidemic of childhood obesity'. In this paper we examine the mobilisation of notions of responsibility and consumption in these discussions, and consider the implications they have for women as mothers. In particular, we are interested to explore the potential conflicts mothers face as care providers and nurturers when responsible care is framed as withholding or managing the food consumption of children. We argue that the competing discursive frameworks around mothers'food provision invite further theorisation that explicitly addresses nourishment and consumption as elements of maternal practice and care. We draw on the work of Neysmith and Reitsma-Street (2005) regarding 'provisioning' to undertake a critical examination of the discourses in the 'childhood obesity'epidemic, with particular attention to Australian media and policy discussions. According to Neysmith and Reitsma-Street, mothers are central to social 'provisioning', that is, the labour that secures the necessities of life. This provisioning framework captures paid market work and unpaid caring labour, policy settings and social locations, allowing for a rich conceptualisation of the conditions mothers negotiate as they provide for their children. Taking up the possibilities of this framework, we argue that, insofar as health risks and responsibilities are largely individualised, mothering is framed as primarily about giving, and childhood obesity is considered a disease of affluence and over-consumption, imperatives for maternal provisioning and nurture are potentially in conflict with critiques of consumption and excess. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:03:53Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-13506 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:03:53Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | The Australian Sociological Association |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-135062017-02-28T01:34:20Z Between provisioning and consuming?: Children, mothers and 'childhood obesity' Maher, J. Fraser, Suzanne Lindsay, J. Contemporary Western societies focus considerable policy and media attention on the 'epidemic of childhood obesity'. In this paper we examine the mobilisation of notions of responsibility and consumption in these discussions, and consider the implications they have for women as mothers. In particular, we are interested to explore the potential conflicts mothers face as care providers and nurturers when responsible care is framed as withholding or managing the food consumption of children. We argue that the competing discursive frameworks around mothers'food provision invite further theorisation that explicitly addresses nourishment and consumption as elements of maternal practice and care. We draw on the work of Neysmith and Reitsma-Street (2005) regarding 'provisioning' to undertake a critical examination of the discourses in the 'childhood obesity'epidemic, with particular attention to Australian media and policy discussions. According to Neysmith and Reitsma-Street, mothers are central to social 'provisioning', that is, the labour that secures the necessities of life. This provisioning framework captures paid market work and unpaid caring labour, policy settings and social locations, allowing for a rich conceptualisation of the conditions mothers negotiate as they provide for their children. Taking up the possibilities of this framework, we argue that, insofar as health risks and responsibilities are largely individualised, mothering is framed as primarily about giving, and childhood obesity is considered a disease of affluence and over-consumption, imperatives for maternal provisioning and nurture are potentially in conflict with critiques of consumption and excess. 2010 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/13506 The Australian Sociological Association restricted |
| spellingShingle | Maher, J. Fraser, Suzanne Lindsay, J. Between provisioning and consuming?: Children, mothers and 'childhood obesity' |
| title | Between provisioning and consuming?: Children, mothers and 'childhood obesity' |
| title_full | Between provisioning and consuming?: Children, mothers and 'childhood obesity' |
| title_fullStr | Between provisioning and consuming?: Children, mothers and 'childhood obesity' |
| title_full_unstemmed | Between provisioning and consuming?: Children, mothers and 'childhood obesity' |
| title_short | Between provisioning and consuming?: Children, mothers and 'childhood obesity' |
| title_sort | between provisioning and consuming?: children, mothers and 'childhood obesity' |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/13506 |