Open AccessHealthicization and Lay Knowledge About Eating Practices in Two African American Communities
Author(s) -
Deborah Potter,
Lisa Markowitz,
Siobhan E. Smith,
Theresa Ann Rajack-Talley,
Margaret U. D’Silva,
Lindsay J. Della,
Latrica E. Best,
Quaniqua Carthan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
qualitative health research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.303
H-Index - 113
eISSN - 1552-7557
pISSN - 1049-7323
DOI - 10.1177/1049732315606683
Subject(s) - emic and etic , interpretation (philosophy) , meaning (existential) , variety (cybernetics) , sociology , psychology , health promotion , resistance (ecology) , social psychology , public relations , public health , medicine , political science , nursing , psychotherapist , anthropology , ecology , artificial intelligence , computer science , biology , programming language
In this manuscript, we expand upon sociological research in lay knowledge about health and healthicization by examining socially mediated ways in which 40 African American adults in two communities acquired information about eating practices. Participants employed a variety of socially informed information-seeking strategies. Many, but not all, used socially prescribed sources exhorting them to maximize their own health and reported an amalgam of experiences concerning their interpretation of healthist messages. Participants variously accepted messages about healthy eating or engaged in strategies of micro-resistance that decentered and/or reinterpreted health promotion discourse. Furthermore, participants used emic community-based resources including those that prioritized familial engagement over individual responsibility in eating practices or that drew upon alternative health practices. We discuss the implications our work has for further research on healthicization and lay knowledge about eating practices, in which community members are actively engaged in meaning-making within local socio-structural contexts.