Food and Photos: Low-Income Suburban Children's Attitudes Toward Their Food Environment

During the 2000s, there was a historic shift in the nation’s socioeconomic distribution in that there are now more poor Americans living in the suburbs than in the major cities or rural areas. However, little research has been done to understand the experience of suburban poverty. Although many studies have examined the association between food environments and children’s health, few have sought to understand children’s own attitudes toward their food environment, especially the attitudes of low-income suburban youth. Therefore, this study sought to understand the attitudes that low-income suburban youth have toward their food environment. Fifteen participants were recruited from a high-poverty middle school in San Diego County, California. To capture their attitudes toward the food environment, a photovoice research methodology was employed. Youth participated in workshops, photographed their food environment, discussed their photos in a focus group, wrote stories about their photos, and presented their work in a public setting. The qualitative data (photos, photo captions, focus group transcripts, & field notes) underwent a multi-phase and line-by-line coding process and was clustered iteratively to generate themes. This study found that low-income suburban youth are very positive toward their food environment, especially in regards to their family, home gardens, and the school lunch tables. Moreover, the most salient aspects of their food environment are: family, home, school, food production, and social norms. These findings can help to inform public health interventions so that they are tailored to address the most salient aspects of low-income suburban youths’ food environment.