Working with a women’s slimming group: a case study of health promotion

Abstract

This study of a slimming group formed in south-east London among the residents of a large local authority housing estate exemplifies differing perspectives on healthy eating and weight loss. Health educators have long concentrated on ‘diet’, that is on the food individuals eat, as opposed to ‘dieting’, which is a system of eating designed primarily to promote weight loss. Opinion varies as to the efficacy of advice on what constitutes a healthy diet; nevertheless, the belief that diet does indeed influence health remains potent among both health professionals and the general public. Charles and Kerr (1988) found that it is usually the woman rather than the man who ‘stirs the cooking pot’ in families with young children, although decisions on the content of meals may frequently be made by the man (Cline, 1990). Blaxter and Paterson (1982) have shown how beliefs about food and health can be passed from one generation to the next; thus, by addressing the issue of healthy eating within the slimming group, the health visitors involved could possibly hope to influence the dietary practices not just of the group members, but of their children.