Saints, sinners and non-believers: the moral space of food. A qualitative exploration of beliefs and perspectives on healthy eating of Irish adults aged 50-70

Food choices can involve a moral element of which healthy eating has come to play a major part in recent years. This research aimed to explore the moral space of food for older adults in order to understand how they conceptualise and negotiate various moral demands in the context of their general food lives. In-depth interviews on the lived experience of food and eating were conducted with a purposive sample of 50 adults aged 50-70, who varied by dietary quality and health status. An inductive thematic analysis was carried out. Three major themes representing aspects of the “moral space of food” were identified. This moral space was influenced by old religious and secular moralities which have become intertwined with new moralities of “healthism”, a trend towards encouraging personal responsibility for health. Participants sought to maintain moral congruence by keeping their behaviour within moral boundaries through balance and moderation. Some resisted immoral positioning by highlighting their own autonomy or by challenging healthist ideology. A fundamental tension exists between the concept of healthy eating as desirable to remain a moral person while simultaneously being equated with sacrifice of pleasure and enjoyment. Healthist ideology perpetuates this tension, problematising enjoyment of food and bodies of those outside of the “norm”. Attempting to address negative moralistic undertones of healthy eating messages may help to engage public interest in nutrition.