The Family as an Actor in High School Students’ Eating Habits: A Qualitative Research Study

Abstract

In order to discover family conceptions and their difficulties with regard to healthy eating habits during the school day, a qualitative study framed in the phenomenological, exploratory, and explanatory perspective has been carried out to detect and describe the aspects and interrelationships that shape the study phenomenon. The researchers performed triangulation techniques and information analysis support with the Atlas-ti programme. As participants, the students’ parents belonging to public secondary education high schools in Huelva, and the capital and its province were included. The participants were intentionally chosen based on established selection and segmentation criteria. Four main categories were obtained from the triangulated analysis. Healthy breakfast, school snack, school cafeteria, and promotion of healthy food measures. Other subcategories were established within them. Families are well aware of the composition of a healthy breakfast, although this is often not translated into practice. Lack of time, comfort and market influence are the main challenges they encounter for their children to acquire healthy habits. The maintenance of healthy habits, their responsibility and control on behalf of the family, and promoting fruit consumption and healthy products from the part of the centre and its cafeteria were highlighted as improvement proposals.