Navigating the neighbourhood
A qualitative study of parents’ perceptions of the food environment in Rotterdam
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23310595 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hermione Harris (0000-0002-8304-1064, The University of Sydney), Veerle van Garling (0009-0005-3057-1984, Erasmus University Rotterdam), Inge Merkelbach (0000-0003-2492-6871, Erasmus University Rotterdam), Paul Kocken (0000-0001-7901-5800), Paul id_orcid Kocken (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Pauline W Jansen (0000-0001-7747-5803, Erasmus MC, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 101 |
| Pages | 103717 |
| Publication date | 2026-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Health & Place (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1353-8292 • E-ISSN: 1873-2054 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.healthplace.2026.103717 |
| PMID | 42520753 |
| OpenAlex | W7171566742 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
Families living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods are disproportionately exposed to unhealthy food outlets. Yet less is known about how families perceive and navigate these local food environments in everyday life. Parents play a key intermediary role in translating neighbourhood food environments into family food purchasing decisions. As such, this qualitative study explored how parents of children aged 8 to 10 years perceive and experience their neighbourhood food environment in Rotterdam (the Netherlands). Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents from socioeconomically diverse neighbourhoods. Data were analysed inductively using a constructivist grounded theory approach. Two overarching themes conceptualised parents' engagement with the food environment as a relational and adaptive process, whereby "perceiving the neighbourhood food environment" was continually recalibrated through parents' "use of the food environment in everyday life". Perceptions were shaped by what felt available, acceptable, and accessible, extending to digital food retail and influenced by community norms and safety. These perceptions were recalibrated as families actively engaged with their food environment through planning grocery shopping, navigating in-store trade-offs between price, quality and health or environmental values, and outsourcing meals for time management or enjoyment. Experiences of using the food environment, in turn, reshaped perceptions, forming a dynamic perceive-use-recalibrate feedback loop. Public health interventions should address both neighbourhood and consumer food environments, combining urban planning with strategies attuned to how families perceive and navigate food choices in everyday life.
Built environment · Perception · Photo elicitation · Photovoice · Qualitative analysis · Qualitative research · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Organic Food and Agriculture · Place Attachment and Urban Studies
Critical review
The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition, and Climate Change
Characterising food environment exposure at home, at work, and along commuting journeys using data on adults in the UK
Does neighborhood fast-food outlet exposure amplify inequalities in diet and obesity? A cross-sectional study
The community and consumer food environment and children’s diet
Food Insecurity, Neighborhood Food Environment, and Health Disparities
Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (Coreq)
Socioeconomic inequalities in food outlet access through an online food delivery service in England
Does the neighbourhood food environment contribute to ethnic differences in diet quality? Results from the Helius study in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Is there an association between the home food environment, the local food shopping environment and children's fruit and vegetable intake? Results from the Dutch Inpact study
Exploring the influence of local food environments on food behaviours
Dietary inequalities
Socioeconomic distribution of food outlet availability through online food delivery services in seven European countries
Who uses what food retailers? A cluster analysis of food retail usage in the Netherlands
Do minority and poor neighborhoods have higher access to fast-food restaurants in the United States
Between exposure, access and use
Mobility Strategies and Food Shopping for Low-Income Families
Understanding family food purchasing behaviour of low-income urban UK families
Longitudinal tracking of diet quality from childhood to adolescence
Determinants of healthy and sustainable food choices in parents with a higher and lower socioeconomic status
Caregiver perceptions of the neighborhood food environment and their relationship with the home food environment and childhood obesity in Northeast China
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Conceptualising food environments as social activity spaces
Code Saturation Versus Meaning Saturation
Understanding and representing 'place' in health research
Area, Class and Health
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |