Changing eating practices after midlife: ageing and food consumption in the French Gazel cohort

Abstract

Understanding not only differences in consumption but differences in how consumption changes presents a theoretical and empirical challenge. In this article, we draw on theories of practice, a life-course perspective and approaches in terms of tastes or dispositions to examine how food consumption changed after midlife in a large cohort of French adults aged from 50 to 75 years. We have been able to present a bird’s eye view of these practices, thanks to multiple correspondence analysis and a micro-level analysis of how individuals changed their food consumption as they aged, thanks to regression models. The first step summarised food consumption data into three modes of engagement with eating, related to prescriptions from the food market (eating as convenience), nutrition (health) and French cuisine (tradition). The second allowed us to examine how modes of engagement with eating were associated with individual characteristics (being a woman, having higher education), ageing and characteristics of participants’ living arrangements (living with children and/or a partner). In conclusion, the sociology of consumption may benefit from taking stock of both dispositional and contextual perspectives on the differences and dynamics of practice. Developing adequate methods, as we do here, is a promising way forward.