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Health Promotion International, Vol. 18, No. 2, 163-170, June 2003
© Oxford University Press 2003

The ‘wonderfulness’ of children’s feeding programs

Patricia L. Williams1,2, Lynn McIntyre3, Jutta B. Dayle4 and Kim Raine5,6

1Mount Saint Vincent University, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre, Nova Scotia, Canada, 3Faculty of Health Professions Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 4Department of Anthropology, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and 5Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science and 6Centre for Health Promotion Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Address for correspondence: Lynn McIntyre, Faculty of Health Professions, Dalhousie University, 5968 College Street, 3rd Floor, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3J5 E-mail: Lynn.McIntyre{at}dal.ca

When people involved in children’s feeding programs were asked to describe them, without exception they were described using phrases that reflected the perception of ‘wonderfulness’. This paper critically analyses the ‘wonderfulness’ of children’s feeding programs by examining the language used to describe these programs, and the features of a ‘wonderful’ program through an analysis of a multi-site, qualitative case study of nine diverse programs in Atlantic Canada. When participants justified their comments about the ‘wonderfulness’ of children’s feeding programs, they did so based upon five perceptions of program strengths: enhanced family coping; providing good food and nutrition; socializing and making friends; behaving well in school; and volunteerism. We suggest that programs can be designed to be innately ‘wonderful’ if they are community- and charity-based, support a noble cause such as the elimination of child hunger, engage good people as donors and volunteers, and provide a direct service to children apart from their families. We challenge health promoters to beware of the ‘wonderful’ program; its ‘wonderfulness’ may actually be masking unintended negative impacts upon its participants.

Key words: children’s feeding programs; evaluation; health promotion


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