Meanings attributed to healthy eating by consumers of a street market

Abstract

Objective
To investigate the meanings attributed to healthy eating by consumers of a street market in the region called Recôncavo da Bahia, Bahia, Brazil.

Methods
Phenomenology-based ethnography to understand the meanings attributed by those consumers. Information was collected through participant observation documented in a field diary and in-depth interviews. Interviews were conducted with seven people who were visitors and/or worked at the street market. In the analytical process, the following significant concepts related to healthy eating were systematized: “fruits and vegetables represent healthy eating”; “safe food: it has to be clean”, and “foods that do the body good”.

Results
The meanings attributed to healthy eating are revisited daily and are related to individuals’ life experiences; new meanings derive from intersubjective constructions. Based on the interviews, it was observed that re-signification was a constant process, marked by events that influence the respondents to change their eating habits such as diseases, aging, information received by health care professionals, and media reports. Healthy eating was also represented by the hygienic-sanitary quality of foods and the lack of strict control over everyday food choices.

Conclusion
We highlight the importance of this discussion in the scientific field and governmental bodies, as well as among health care professionals aiming at a better understanding of the different concepts of healthy eating.