ABSTRACT
The diets of South Asian populations are of particular concern due to poorer health outcomes associated with the consumption of traditional food in the UK. However, this concern has not been translated into a high-quality evidence base, and evidence is often small scale and sometimes contradictory. The influence of social class on South Asian food practices is particularly neglected in the literature. This chapter draws on Bourdieu’s exposition of class as a structured and structuring micro-practice and adopts an intersectional paradigm in exploring the narratives of mothers from diverse socioeconomic, ethnic and migration backgrounds regarding their healthy eating practices. These mothers are both first- and second-generation migrants with dependent children from two South Asian groups: Pakistani Muslims and Gujarati Hindus, living in five cities of the UK. The findings show class-based distinction in narratives of healthy eating involving symbolic and social value of food. Surprisingly, the class-based distinction did not translate into eating practices, which were often influenced by time and resources. Both time and budget constraints impacted on women’s ability to eat and feed healthily. The chapter argues for a reconsideration of how cultural capital is conceptualised and enacted in context of healthy eating. It challenges the assumption that South Asian food practices are class neutral, static and unhealthy and that healthy eating messages and initiatives will therefore engender transformative changes.
