I Want Her to Be Happy and Healthy: Parents' Definitions, Priorities, and Sacrifices for Children's Health

• In Event: 3581 - Section on Sociology of Children and Youth Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 04. Children, Youth, and Institutions

Abstract

The choices parents make for and about their children’s health receive considerable attention from scholars, experts, and popular culture outlets, alike. Parents’ nourishment and support of their children’s well-being is broadly associated with larger, macro level issues, such as childhood obesity, burdens on healthcare programs, and general population health. Thus, understanding how parents make sense of what makes their children healthy is an important area of study. We use 51 in-depth interviews with parents of children in grades K-5 to explore how they conceive of and define health and well-being for their children. We find that parents’ definitions often vary, as they prioritize different aspects of children’s well-being. We argue that parents’ definitions of childhood health and prioritization of some aspects of health over others are informed by how they imagine their choices will support their children’s future holistic well-being as adults. These imagined futures and long-term goals vary by parents’ differing social contexts, including social class and local community cultures. Our findings support calls for a more nuanced understanding of how and why parents make different choices about their children’s well-being within diverse social contexts, and how this information could be used to inform policies and programs intended to support family health.

Authors

• Jennifer Ann Pace, University of Colorado-Boulder

• Bethany Rigles, University of Colorado-Boulder