The Truths about Healthy Diets: Popular Views, Preschool Teachers' Beliefs and Teaching in Serbia (original) (raw)

2020, Research in English & Applied Linguistics

One of the questions which breeds a high number of conflicting truths in today’s society is: What is a healthy diet? When trying to find out the answer to this question average people are faced with a sea of information. They may choose to be vegetarian, vegan, pescetarian, they may follow the traditional diet of their nation, a low calorie diet, a low carb diet etc. With the worldwide increase of overweight and obesity among preschool children on the rise, this has become an even more important question (Mikkelsen et al. 2014). Research shows that food experiences and knowledge which are gained in early childhood are central to later diet and health (Aldridge et al. 2009, Tatlow-Golden et al. 2013). The aim of this paper is to explore what “dietary truth” is taught in Serbian kindergartens. The focus of the study is twofold. Firstly, dietary trends are explored in Serbian health and lifestyle magazines in order to compare them with the kindergarten teachers’ beliefs and teachings. Discourse analysis of magazine articles is implemented in this first segment (Gee 2017). Secondly, preschool teachers’ beliefs and teaching regarding the topic of a healthy diet are explored. For this segment the qualitative research model is used, with in depth interviews as the main instrument.