Parents, Children and the Construction of the Healthy Body in Middle-class Families

Although health and healthy lifestyles have emerged as central motifs of the late twentieth century there has been little empirical study of the part played by the body in their construction. This is particularly interesting in view of the emphasis on body monitoring and maintenance which characterizes much of this discourse. Thus, not only have health-relevant behaviours often been studied in detachment from the social contexts in which they are embedded and given meaning, but also they have been detached from the vehicle through which they are enacted and experienced: the body. If this is the case for adults, it is even more so for children whose views on health and illness have only recently begun to be researched (Prout, 1986; Backett and Alexander, 1991; Oakley et al., 1995; Mayall, 1996).