Wendy J Wills | University of Hertfordshire (original) (raw)
Books by Wendy J Wills
Papers by Wendy J Wills
We would like to acknowledge and thank all the pilot and main study participants who gave so gene... more We would like to acknowledge and thank all the pilot and main study participants who gave so generously of their time and without whom this project would not have been completed. We would also like to acknowledge and thank some of our University of Hertfordshire colleagues for their input and time, particularly Avril Nash and Julie Mace and acknowledge the valuable contributions made by Jessica Mitchell, Alice Martin and Nick Piper.
We would like to thank the organisations and colleagues who have helped us to recruit a range of ... more We would like to thank the organisations and colleagues who have helped us to recruit a range of households and professionals/volunteers for this study, as well as those participants who took part. We would also like to thank the University of Hertfordshire's Public Involvement in Research group (PIRg) and those who took part in pilot interviews for their time and feedback.
don’t think I ever had food poisoning’. A practice-based approach to
Public authorities in Scotland have implemented several initiatives regarding food and drink sold... more Public authorities in Scotland have implemented several initiatives regarding food and drink sold in schools in order to improve the diet and health of children and young people. Some foods and drinks are not available in schools and the sale of others is restricted. Kitchen supervisors have to develop menus respecting the Statutory Nutrient Standards for Schools. Nonetheless, regulation does not prevent food retailers around schools selling whatever they wish, and public authorities are now concerned with this issue. Through a mixed-methods approach and a case study methodology, this study explored food and drink purchasing practices of pupils aged 13-15 years across Scotland. Seven schools took part with 535 pupils completing an online purchasing recall questionnaire and 651 pupils involved in one or more qualitative methods of the study (individual and collective interviews, writing exercises, go along tours, focus groups and participant observation). Moreover, 13 head teachers and kitchen supervisors as well as 25 food retailers took part in informal or semi-structured interviews. The schools were varied in terms of social deprivation and food environment. This paper reveals the impacts of public policies regulating food and drink on offer in school and the reasons why many pupils venture beyond the school gate at lunchtime. Furthermore, perceptions of pupils on food and drink sold in school and strategies they adopt to avoid school rules are discussed in order to highlight views of young people on public policies concerned with their health.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
Socioeconomic deprivation has been linked to food consumption practices, but studies investigatin... more Socioeconomic deprivation has been linked to food consumption practices, but studies investigating the food environment around schools provide mixed findings. Peer influence and marketing cues are considered important influencers of young people’s behaviors. This study used a tribal theory lens to investigate the factors affecting pupils’ purchasing and consumption of food/drinks outside schools at lunchtime. A survey was conducted with 243 pupils from seven UK secondary schools of differing socioeconomic status (SES). A purchasing recall questionnaire (PRQ) was developed and administered online at the participating schools to capture food and drink purchasing, intake, and expenditure. No significant differences were found in terms of energy and nutrients consumed or food/drink expenditure between pupils from schools of lower and higher SES. Enjoyment of food shopping with friends was linked with higher food energy intake and spend. Higher susceptibility to peer influence was associ...
Children & Society, 2018
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
The aim of this paper is to report on the lunchtime food purchasing practices of secondary school... more The aim of this paper is to report on the lunchtime food purchasing practices of secondary school students and some of the factors related to this purchasing, including the influence of socio-economic status (SES) and the food environment within and around schools. A mixed-methods study incorporating an online purchasing recall questionnaire and multiple qualitative methods was undertaken at seven UK secondary schools. The analysis shows that SES was intricately woven with lunchtime food practices. Three-quarters of participants regularly purchased food outside of school; those at low SES schools were more likely to report regularly leaving school to buy food. Young people’s perception of food sold in schools in areas of low SES was often negative and they left school to find “better” food and value for money. Taste, ingredients and advertisements were factors that mattered to young people at schools with low or mixed SES; health as a driver was only mentioned by pupils at a high SE...
Children & Society, 2018
The socioeconomic boundaries shaping young people's lunchtime food practices on a school day
Appetite, 2017
Patterns of sugarsweetened beverage consumption amongst young people aged 13e15 years during the ... more Patterns of sugarsweetened beverage consumption amongst young people aged 13e15 years during the school day in Scotland',
Cambridge Journal of Education, 2015
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2015
Background: Food and drink purchasing habits of pupils out of school at lunchtime may be contribu... more Background: Food and drink purchasing habits of pupils out of school at lunchtime may be contributing to poor dietary intakes and overweight and obesity. The aim of this study was to identify the places from which purchases were made, types of food and drinks purchased and, the reasons for purchasing food or drinks out of school. Methods: A survey of the food and drinks purchasing habits of secondary school pupils (11-16 yrs) out of school at lunchtime was conducted in Scotland in 2010. A face-to-face interview and a self-completion questionnaire was designed to identify the food outlets used at lunchtime, types of food and drinks purchased and pupils' reasons for purchasing food or drinks out of school. Height and weight were measured and BMI centiles used to classify pupils as normal weight, overweight or obese. Results were compared by age group, sex, BMI group and level of socioeconomic deprivation. Results: Of the 612 pupils who completed the survey, 97 % reported having access to places selling food or drinks out of school at lunchtime, and of these 63 % made purchases. A higher proportion of pupils from more deprived areas reported purchasing food or drinks out of school, but the proportion making purchases did not differ significantly by sex or BMI group. Supermarkets were the outlets from which pupils reported most often making purchases, with fewer purchasing food or drinks from fast food takeaways, and this did not differ significantly by socioeconomic deprivation. Reasons for making purchases included availability of preferred food and drinks, some of which are restricted for sale in schools, and social reasons, such as wanting to be with friends. Sandwiches and non-diet soft drinks were items most commonly purchased, followed by confectionery and diet soft drinks. However, less than 10 % of all the secondary school pupils reported purchasing these foods every day. Conclusions: Supermarkets, not just fast food outlets, should be considered when developing strategies to improve the dietary habits of pupils at lunchtime. The importance of food preferences and social reasons for purchasing food and drinks need to be acknowledged and integrated in future interventions.
Sociology, 2015
Understanding everyday social practices is challenging as many are mundane and taken for granted ... more Understanding everyday social practices is challenging as many are mundane and taken for granted and therefore difficult to articulate or recall. This paper reflects on the challenges encountered in a qualitative study underpinned by current theories of practice that incorporated visual methods. Using this approach meant everyone in a sample of 20 household cases, from children through to adults in their 80s, could show and tell their own stories about domestic kitchen practices. Households co-produced visual data with the research team through kitchen tours, photography, diaries/scrapbooks, informal interviews and recording video footage. The visual data complemented and elaborated on the non-visual data and contradictions could be thoroughly interrogated. A significant challenge was handling the substantial insight revealed about a household through visual methods, in terms of household anonymity. The paper reflects on the challenges of a visual approach and the contribution it ca...
Appetite, 2015
Food stored, prepared, cooked and eaten at home contributes to foodborne disease which, globally,... more Food stored, prepared, cooked and eaten at home contributes to foodborne disease which, globally, presents a significant public health burden. The aim of the study reported here was to investigate, analyse and interpret domestic kitchen practices in order to provide fresh insight about how the domestic setting might influence food safety. Using current theories of practice meant the research, which drew on qualitative and ethnographic methods, could investigate people and material things in the domestic kitchen setting whilst taking account of people's actions, values, experiences and beliefs. Data from 20 UK households revealed the extent to which kitchens are used for a range of non-food related activities and the ways that foodwork extends beyond the boundaries of the kitchen. The youngest children, the oldest adults and the family pets all had agency in the kitchen, which has implications for preventing foodborne disease. What was observed, filmed and photographed was not a ...
ISRN Nutrition, 2013
Many children eat a diet which supplies a higher than recommended amount of nonmilk extrinsic sug... more Many children eat a diet which supplies a higher than recommended amount of nonmilk extrinsic sugars and saturated fatty acids. The school setting is often targeted for nutrition intervention as many children consume food at school. In Scotland, attempts have been made to improve the nutritional content of food in schools and attention has now turned to food and drink available “beyond the school gate.” This paper describes the development of a module on food and drink purchasing behaviour. The Food Purchasing Module was designed to collect data, for the first time, from a representative sample of children aged 8–16 years about food and drinks purchased on the way to/from school, during break time/free periods, and at lunchtime, from outlets around schools. Cognitive testing of the module highlighted that younger children find self-completion questionnaires problematic. Older children have fewer problems with self-completion questionnaires but many do not follow question routing, wh...
We would like to acknowledge and thank all the pilot and main study participants who gave so gene... more We would like to acknowledge and thank all the pilot and main study participants who gave so generously of their time and without whom this project would not have been completed. We would also like to acknowledge and thank some of our University of Hertfordshire colleagues for their input and time, particularly Avril Nash and Julie Mace and acknowledge the valuable contributions made by Jessica Mitchell, Alice Martin and Nick Piper.
We would like to thank the organisations and colleagues who have helped us to recruit a range of ... more We would like to thank the organisations and colleagues who have helped us to recruit a range of households and professionals/volunteers for this study, as well as those participants who took part. We would also like to thank the University of Hertfordshire's Public Involvement in Research group (PIRg) and those who took part in pilot interviews for their time and feedback.
don’t think I ever had food poisoning’. A practice-based approach to
Public authorities in Scotland have implemented several initiatives regarding food and drink sold... more Public authorities in Scotland have implemented several initiatives regarding food and drink sold in schools in order to improve the diet and health of children and young people. Some foods and drinks are not available in schools and the sale of others is restricted. Kitchen supervisors have to develop menus respecting the Statutory Nutrient Standards for Schools. Nonetheless, regulation does not prevent food retailers around schools selling whatever they wish, and public authorities are now concerned with this issue. Through a mixed-methods approach and a case study methodology, this study explored food and drink purchasing practices of pupils aged 13-15 years across Scotland. Seven schools took part with 535 pupils completing an online purchasing recall questionnaire and 651 pupils involved in one or more qualitative methods of the study (individual and collective interviews, writing exercises, go along tours, focus groups and participant observation). Moreover, 13 head teachers and kitchen supervisors as well as 25 food retailers took part in informal or semi-structured interviews. The schools were varied in terms of social deprivation and food environment. This paper reveals the impacts of public policies regulating food and drink on offer in school and the reasons why many pupils venture beyond the school gate at lunchtime. Furthermore, perceptions of pupils on food and drink sold in school and strategies they adopt to avoid school rules are discussed in order to highlight views of young people on public policies concerned with their health.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
Socioeconomic deprivation has been linked to food consumption practices, but studies investigatin... more Socioeconomic deprivation has been linked to food consumption practices, but studies investigating the food environment around schools provide mixed findings. Peer influence and marketing cues are considered important influencers of young people’s behaviors. This study used a tribal theory lens to investigate the factors affecting pupils’ purchasing and consumption of food/drinks outside schools at lunchtime. A survey was conducted with 243 pupils from seven UK secondary schools of differing socioeconomic status (SES). A purchasing recall questionnaire (PRQ) was developed and administered online at the participating schools to capture food and drink purchasing, intake, and expenditure. No significant differences were found in terms of energy and nutrients consumed or food/drink expenditure between pupils from schools of lower and higher SES. Enjoyment of food shopping with friends was linked with higher food energy intake and spend. Higher susceptibility to peer influence was associ...
Children & Society, 2018
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
The aim of this paper is to report on the lunchtime food purchasing practices of secondary school... more The aim of this paper is to report on the lunchtime food purchasing practices of secondary school students and some of the factors related to this purchasing, including the influence of socio-economic status (SES) and the food environment within and around schools. A mixed-methods study incorporating an online purchasing recall questionnaire and multiple qualitative methods was undertaken at seven UK secondary schools. The analysis shows that SES was intricately woven with lunchtime food practices. Three-quarters of participants regularly purchased food outside of school; those at low SES schools were more likely to report regularly leaving school to buy food. Young people’s perception of food sold in schools in areas of low SES was often negative and they left school to find “better” food and value for money. Taste, ingredients and advertisements were factors that mattered to young people at schools with low or mixed SES; health as a driver was only mentioned by pupils at a high SE...
Children & Society, 2018
The socioeconomic boundaries shaping young people's lunchtime food practices on a school day
Appetite, 2017
Patterns of sugarsweetened beverage consumption amongst young people aged 13e15 years during the ... more Patterns of sugarsweetened beverage consumption amongst young people aged 13e15 years during the school day in Scotland',
Cambridge Journal of Education, 2015
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2015
Background: Food and drink purchasing habits of pupils out of school at lunchtime may be contribu... more Background: Food and drink purchasing habits of pupils out of school at lunchtime may be contributing to poor dietary intakes and overweight and obesity. The aim of this study was to identify the places from which purchases were made, types of food and drinks purchased and, the reasons for purchasing food or drinks out of school. Methods: A survey of the food and drinks purchasing habits of secondary school pupils (11-16 yrs) out of school at lunchtime was conducted in Scotland in 2010. A face-to-face interview and a self-completion questionnaire was designed to identify the food outlets used at lunchtime, types of food and drinks purchased and pupils' reasons for purchasing food or drinks out of school. Height and weight were measured and BMI centiles used to classify pupils as normal weight, overweight or obese. Results were compared by age group, sex, BMI group and level of socioeconomic deprivation. Results: Of the 612 pupils who completed the survey, 97 % reported having access to places selling food or drinks out of school at lunchtime, and of these 63 % made purchases. A higher proportion of pupils from more deprived areas reported purchasing food or drinks out of school, but the proportion making purchases did not differ significantly by sex or BMI group. Supermarkets were the outlets from which pupils reported most often making purchases, with fewer purchasing food or drinks from fast food takeaways, and this did not differ significantly by socioeconomic deprivation. Reasons for making purchases included availability of preferred food and drinks, some of which are restricted for sale in schools, and social reasons, such as wanting to be with friends. Sandwiches and non-diet soft drinks were items most commonly purchased, followed by confectionery and diet soft drinks. However, less than 10 % of all the secondary school pupils reported purchasing these foods every day. Conclusions: Supermarkets, not just fast food outlets, should be considered when developing strategies to improve the dietary habits of pupils at lunchtime. The importance of food preferences and social reasons for purchasing food and drinks need to be acknowledged and integrated in future interventions.
Sociology, 2015
Understanding everyday social practices is challenging as many are mundane and taken for granted ... more Understanding everyday social practices is challenging as many are mundane and taken for granted and therefore difficult to articulate or recall. This paper reflects on the challenges encountered in a qualitative study underpinned by current theories of practice that incorporated visual methods. Using this approach meant everyone in a sample of 20 household cases, from children through to adults in their 80s, could show and tell their own stories about domestic kitchen practices. Households co-produced visual data with the research team through kitchen tours, photography, diaries/scrapbooks, informal interviews and recording video footage. The visual data complemented and elaborated on the non-visual data and contradictions could be thoroughly interrogated. A significant challenge was handling the substantial insight revealed about a household through visual methods, in terms of household anonymity. The paper reflects on the challenges of a visual approach and the contribution it ca...
Appetite, 2015
Food stored, prepared, cooked and eaten at home contributes to foodborne disease which, globally,... more Food stored, prepared, cooked and eaten at home contributes to foodborne disease which, globally, presents a significant public health burden. The aim of the study reported here was to investigate, analyse and interpret domestic kitchen practices in order to provide fresh insight about how the domestic setting might influence food safety. Using current theories of practice meant the research, which drew on qualitative and ethnographic methods, could investigate people and material things in the domestic kitchen setting whilst taking account of people's actions, values, experiences and beliefs. Data from 20 UK households revealed the extent to which kitchens are used for a range of non-food related activities and the ways that foodwork extends beyond the boundaries of the kitchen. The youngest children, the oldest adults and the family pets all had agency in the kitchen, which has implications for preventing foodborne disease. What was observed, filmed and photographed was not a ...
ISRN Nutrition, 2013
Many children eat a diet which supplies a higher than recommended amount of nonmilk extrinsic sug... more Many children eat a diet which supplies a higher than recommended amount of nonmilk extrinsic sugars and saturated fatty acids. The school setting is often targeted for nutrition intervention as many children consume food at school. In Scotland, attempts have been made to improve the nutritional content of food in schools and attention has now turned to food and drink available “beyond the school gate.” This paper describes the development of a module on food and drink purchasing behaviour. The Food Purchasing Module was designed to collect data, for the first time, from a representative sample of children aged 8–16 years about food and drinks purchased on the way to/from school, during break time/free periods, and at lunchtime, from outlets around schools. Cognitive testing of the module highlighted that younger children find self-completion questionnaires problematic. Older children have fewer problems with self-completion questionnaires but many do not follow question routing, wh...
Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies, 2013
Nutrition misinformation can be harmful. Within dietetics there is an acknowledgement that nutrit... more Nutrition misinformation can be harmful. Within dietetics there is an acknowledgement that nutrition information should be consistent, science-based and made relevant to different segments of the population. This paper reports on a study, conducted in Scotland, which involved focus groups and interviews with consumers and health professionals to explore messages relating to a healthy diet and to starchy foods and foods high in fat or sugar in particular. The research also involved a discourse analysis of articles aimed at health professionals and consumers. Evidence based, clearly written web and print articles were not the norm. Many articles contained value-laden messages and inconsistent or unclear advice. Nutrition information was rarely contextualised for consumers to help them incorporate the advice into their daily lives. Consumers and health professionals reported feeling 'bombarded' by messages about diet, which was sometimes confusing. There is considerable scope for improving nutrition messaging in Scotland.
British Journal of Community Nursing, 2014
Foodborne illness (FBI) is a major public health problem in the UK. Recent increases in cases of ... more Foodborne illness (FBI) is a major public health problem in the UK. Recent increases in cases of listeriosis in older people have focused attention on consumer food-related practices. Previous studies highlight poor relationships between what people know, what they say they do and what they actually do in the kitchen. The aim of the Kitchen Life study was to examine what actually happens in the domestic kitchen to assess whether and how this has the potential to influence food safety in the home. Drawing on a qualitative ethnographic approach, methods included a kitchen tour, photography, observation, video observation, informal interviews and diary methods. Ten households with older people (aged 60+) were recruited across the UK. It was found that trust in the food supply, use of food-labelling (including use-by dates), sensory logics (such as the feel or smell of food) and food waste were factors with the potential to influence risk of foodborne illness. Practices shifted with cha...
The Sociological Review, 2011
Drawing on two qualitative studies which looked at diet, weight and health from a social class pe... more Drawing on two qualitative studies which looked at diet, weight and health from a social class perspective, we use Bourdieu's theory of habitus to help explain the different food and eating practices undertaken by families with young teenagers. Whilst the families displayed considerable reflexivity when making decisions about what to eat on a daily basis, the analysis highlighted that everyday behaviours are still bounded by distinctions of taste, according to social position. The paper includes an examination of the relationships between different forms of capital and whether form or functionality is prioritised within families. We show the importance of temporal frameworks when interpreting classed food and eating practices.
Public authorities in Scotland have implemented several initiatives regarding food and drink sold... more Public authorities in Scotland have implemented several initiatives regarding food and drink sold in schools in order to improve the diet and health of children and young people. Some foods and drinks are not available in schools and the sale of others is restricted. Kitchen supervisors have to develop menus respecting the Statutory Nutrient Standards for Schools. Nonetheless, regulation does not prevent food retailers around schools selling whatever they wish, and public authorities are now concerned with this issue.
Through a mixed-methods approach and a case study methodology, this study explored food and drink purchasing practices of pupils aged 13-15 years across Scotland. Seven schools took part with 535 pupils completing an online purchasing recall questionnaire and 651 pupils involved in one or more qualitative methods of the study (individual and collective interviews, writing exercises, go along tours, focus groups and participant observation). Moreover, 13 head teachers and kitchen supervisors as well as 25 food retailers took part in informal or semi-structured interviews. The schools were varied in terms of social deprivation and food environment.
This paper reveals the impacts of public policies regulating food and drink on offer in school and the reasons why many pupils venture beyond the school gate at lunchtime. Furthermore, perceptions of pupils on food and drink sold in school and strategies they adopt to avoid school rules are discussed in order to highlight views of young people on public policies concerned with their health.
This paper explores fast food consumption practices by drawing on the narratives of a group of yo... more This paper explores fast food consumption practices by drawing on the narratives of a group of young teenagers whose everyday lives and voices are largely ignored in contemporary British studies of children: the middle classes. The paper draws on interviews with 36 middle class teenagers aged 13-15 years and living in Scotland . As we were interested in family context and habitus, we also interviewed participant’s parents. In the interviews we asked participants to talk through typical and non-typical days, to probe details of all food consumed by the participating teenager and his/her family and the context for this consumption (where, with whom and when consumption took place). A thematic analysis of the transcribed interview data was undertaken.
By examining middle class young teenagers’ accounts of when they ate fast food , we were able to explore whether, and in what ways, fast food practices were integral to middle class identity-making work during this period of the life course. Many teenagers were not making purely personal choices to eat or not eat fast food. Their decisions and the restrictions that they placed on their own consumption were underpinned by values and discourses that reflected parental expectations about food and eating. Most teenagers expressed awareness of, and said they wanted to implement, the nutritional discourse advocated by parents. Many teenagers also said they avoided particular fast food establishments because they were perceived as offering poor quality or ethically questionable food. By avoiding fast food, teenagers were maintaining the distinction of being ‘other’, that is, different to those who more frequently eat in fast food restaurants (i.e. the working classes).
Objectives There is still a socio-economic gradient associated with the diet and weight of child... more Objectives
There is still a socio-economic gradient associated with the diet and weight of children and adults in the UK and elsewhere. Individuals from lower social class groups are more likely to be overweight or obese, consume less fruit and vegetables and eat a diet higher in salt, sugar and fat than those from higher social class groups. It is therefore important to understand the way that cultural and socio-economic forces contribute to the everyday behaviours of young people in order to positively influence diet and weight both for their present and future health.
Methods
This paper draws on qualitative data from interviews with young teenagers (aged 13-15) and their parents recruited from lower and higher social class groups in Scotland (n=72 families). Half of the teenagers were overweight or obese and half were boys. We thematically analysed data from individual interviews to explore how cultural and economic aspects of social class underpinned diet and weight-related practices.
Results
Middle class parents controlled and monitored their young teenagers’ food choices; this was perceived as important to help teenagers through the transition to becoming a ‘successful’, ‘healthy’ adult. Working class parents perceived young teenagers as ready to take responsibility for their own food choices, prioritising their concurrent wellbeing over future health.
Middle class young people were often anxious to choose a healthy diet and maintain a healthy body weight throughout life. Working class young people were more likely to make food choices for their instantaneous benefits; e.g. preparing ‘fast food’ so they could meet up with their friends.
Conclusions
These findings have implications for community health practice. It is important to work with populations from different social class groups without perceiving one set of health ‘beliefs’ and behaviours as ‘better’ than another. Taking account of these socially-constructed health conceptualisations will help facilitate more targeted community interventions to improve diet and help prevent obesity as young people make the transition to adulthood.