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Hands-on activities, where children explore food with their senses, are of interest for their potential to promote healthy eating. Various food-related sensory activities (FRSA) have been developed as interventions, but design, delivery and outcome variation challenge a robust evaluation of programs. Some argue that a focus on health is narrow and that FRSA could foster other competences, including non-health dimensions of sustainability. The objective of this scoping review was therefore to examine insights from the scientific literature regarding types, aims, perceived benefits, outcome measures and connections to sustainability of FRSA targeting children in educational settings. PRISMA-ScR was used. Three databases were searched in Spring 2024, resulting in 25 included articles. The FRSA were categorized into two main types and four subtypes. The most common aims, perceived benefits, and outcome measures were related to improving children's healthy eating. It has also been suggested that FRSA might foster critically conscious consumers and socially competent individuals, and support product development. Yet, these aspects were only partially evaluated in the studies reviewed. While environmental dimensions of sustainable eating were recognized, some of the competences related to being critically conscious and socially competent may also be important for sustainable development. Future research may explore FRSA's potential contributions to outcomes other than physical health.

Sweet foods occupy an ambiguous position in many people’s diets, perhaps especially for children and adolescents. The twin expectation that they both covet and limit their intake can create a dilemma not only in the home, but also in the school subject Home Economics (HE), which among other themes has a focus on food and health. In this study, we explored how Discourses on sweet foods were formed, reproduced, and challenged during 26 lessons in northern Sweden. Overall, sweet foods were constructed as desirable but also as unhealthy, disgusting, and unnecessary. They were used as a form of capital where ownership, distribution, and fairness were important, and students could mark friendships by sharing and gifting. Conversely, they could also use sweet foods to police, ridicule, question, or punish each other. Conflicts could arise around less-than-perfect results and students could withhold sweet foods from each other as a form of social rejection. Vague limits to intake placed responsibility for intake on the students themselves. We suggest that a contextualisation of the social, cultural, and health aspects of sweet foods in HE might help students acquire a more holistic Discourse of sweet foods and mitigate their social weaponisation.

This paper explores the challenges of filming as a qualitative research method in practical school subjects. We exemplify with an observation study using video data collected from lessons in Home Economics, but the issues we discuss are also relevant for other subjects with practical elements, such as Arts, Crafts, Music, Physical Education, and Natural Science. Based on a reflexive thematic analysis of sixteen videotaped Home Economics lessons, we discuss how potential limitations arise due to group work, obstructive furnishings, unpredictable movement, and the use of artefacts. The paper concludes with a discussion about the need to balance intrusiveness and visibility, the struggle to capture everything, the potentially problematic emphasis on visual data, and a section with recommendations for successful use of video as a research tool.

Qualitative content analysis (QCA) is a flexible method of analysis, applicable within many epistemologies and on many kinds of data. This makes it suitable as a general introduction to qualitative methods, but students and other beginners sometimes have trouble grasping the associated concepts and ways of thinking. To facilitate their first foray into this new territory, we propose a five-step process of QCA that does not presuppose any foreknowledge of concepts such as levels of abstraction or what coding and categorizing can look like in practice. In our step-by-step guide, we also depart from some staples of QCA, such as likening codes to labels and accepting topic summaries as categories, since this may hamper rather than help beginners’ understanding of the underlying principles. After a concrete how-to section, we offer a brief comparison between QCA and reflexive thematic analysis. To further the pedagogic uses of the article, we also discuss the philosophical underpinnings of the method, focusing on how to handle potential problems of establishing common ground, utterances that contain several ideas, speech acts, and contextuality.

In Swedish Home Economics (HE), some students struggle to understand and apply instructions in their cooking. Based on Dewey’s theory of experiential learning, the aim of this study was to explore the conditions for developing cooking literacy in Swedish HE, focusing on teachers’ and students’ use of instructions and sensory reflections. Observations were conducted in 19 student groups across four schools. Five teachers and 57 students were recorded with Dictaphones. An additional 35 students were observed. Reflexive thematic analysis yielded five themes: (1) Shifting emphasis on different sources of instruction, (2) Vague instructions required ability to make sensory-reflective decisions, (3) Shifting emphasis on different types of sensory reflection, (4) Sporadic connection between sensory reflections and the cooking process, and (5) Need for quick problem-solving favoured instructions over reflection. To increase opportunities for experiential learning, I suggest using systematic and continuous sensory reflections based on repetition, variation, and comparison.

The aim of the study was to explore Swedish high school students’ experiences of group workduring Home Economics (HE) woodwork, with a specific focus on the factors they consideredimportant and how the group work was organized. A total of 21 interviews with 23 participantswere analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that while teachers establishedthe groups, students were responsible for organizing the division of tasks within them. A keyaspect was the importance of communication, which facilitated task allocation as studentsdiscussed their preferences and prior knowledge. When focusing on the work, students valueda balanced workload with appropriately challenging tasks to achieve a successful outcomeefficiently. Additionally, enjoyment, a sense of security, and having fun were important; thus,many preferred collaborating with familiar peers, even if this sometimes negatively affectedefficiency. Successful group work in HE relies on effective communication among students.However, an emphasis on outcomes over processes may hinder learning opportunities anddiscourage engagement with unfamiliar tasks, suggesting a need for more reflective practicesin group work to prioritize educational goals. 

This study examined the obstacles faced by students during cooking lessons in Swedish Homeeconomics. Observations and qualitative interviews with teachers and students were analyzed usingreflexive thematic analysis. Three areas of concern emerged when lessons were centred on cooking awhole meal:

1. Understanding the Cooking Process: Students sometimes failed to grasp the intricacies of foodchemistry due to task fragmentation. Experienced peers took charge, limiting opportunities forhands-on learning.

2. Impatience and Lack of Focus: Some students disregarded instructions, wishing to emulateimprovisational cooking on social media rather than following structured recipes.

3. Timing Issues: Students struggled to coordinate cooking tasks effectively.These challenges stemmed from a lack of fundamental culinary knowledge, including the inability tointerpret cooking terminology and execute methods accurately. To address these issues, methodpractice lessons were implemented. These focused on connecting sensory experiences to time useand choice of method to encourage patience and a deeper understanding of the cooking process.Students largely enjoyed the new lesson format, spending more time than usual discussing theconnections between cooking process and results.

In conclusion, this research highlights the multifaceted challenges of cooking education and offersinsights into the advantages of an alternative lesson format.

Home Economics is a mandatory school subject for students in grade 1-9 in Swedish compulsory school. Students often work in groups when completing practical tasks. The aim of this study was to examine how students aged 14-16 experience such group work. How was the group work organized? What did the students think was most important when working in groups? A total of 22 individual interviews were conducted and then analyzed using thematic analysis. The results indicated that students preferred working with someone they knew well because it impacted communication, efficiency, a sense of fun and how much support they received from each other. Students expressed that the teachers organized the groups, but they organized the division of tasks in the group themselves. A limitation for the study is that it only includes students from three different schools. Nevertheless, it shows the importance of clarifying the purpose of group work in Home Economics.

This study examines challenges faced by Swedish Home Economics (HE) and Physical Education andHealth (PEH) teachers when teaching health, lifestyle, and sustainability. Data from a smallqualitative survey was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, leading to the construction of fourkey themes.1. "Lack of Resources": Teachers encountered difficulties due to inadequate materials, lack ofcolleague support, economic constraints, and poorly equipped classrooms. More time for teachingand preparation was crucial.2. "Low Student Performance": Teachers grappled with students lacking prior knowledge andmotivation. Projects spanning several weeks suffered when students missed steps, impacting theirunderstanding.3. "Student Resistance": In HE, they challenged health and sustainability concepts. In PEH, theyresisted physical activities and theoretical discussions.4. "Sensitive Issues and Ethical Dilemmas": Teachers navigated sensitive topics like health, allergies,mental health, and socio-economic disparities. To handle this, they adapted their language andencouraged critical thinking.Based on these findings, we recommend allocating more resources to HE and PEH, and providing in-service training to help teachers keep up with the latest research and innovative teaching methods.We also encourage scholarly debate around how to interpret and navigate the sensitive topicsincluded in the syllabi.

Background: In health education, there is a risk of giving overly prescriptive recommendations, potentially activating conflicting in-group norms that reduce message receptiveness. For example, the notion of ‘unhealthy youth’ is a stereotype which suggests that young people are expected to make unhealthy choices. If such in-group norms are activated as part of health education, the will to emulate healthy out-group behaviour may decrease.

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore how young people construct different types of eaters in relation to health recommendations.

Method: Group interviews were conducted with 31 students aged 10–16 years (from school grades 5 and 8) in northern Sweden and data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: The analysis yielded eight ideal eater types: healthy-but-not-too-healthy; obsessively healthy; devil-may-care; destabilised; contextual; powerless; intuitive; and discontented eaters. Participants’ preferred types did not overly regulate their eating, bute intuitively ate what they liked and/or needed in a balanced way. They were also receptive to social and contextual cues without being completely guided by them.

Conclusion: Even in the current era of individualism, food retains its social meanings, and young people’s views of healthy eating are shaped by valued social groups. We therefore recommend the promotion of shared individualism as part of health education, where the expression of individual taste is encouraged alongside adherence to group norms. It is also crucial to highlight how healthy and unhealthy foods can coexist as part of a balanced diet.