Writing nutritionistically
A critical discourse analysis of lay people’s digital correspondence with the Swedish Food Agency
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7787754 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karolin Bergman (0000-0001-5290-3293, corresponding author), Paulina Nowicka (0000-0001-9707-8768, Uppsala University), K Eli (0000-0001-9132-8404, University of Oxford), Elin Lövestam (0000-0001-6428-5701, Uppsala University) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 554-570 |
| Publication date | 2022-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Health An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health Illness and Medicine (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1363-4593 • E-ISSN: 1461-7196 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/13634593211038533 |
| PMID | 34542352 |
| OpenAlex | W2986241595 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 35 |
This article analyzes lay people’s use of nutritionistic discourse in written correspondence with the Swedish Food Agency, an authority responsible for dietary advice. Examining 60 food related written digital messages, we apply a critical discourse analysis to parse the lexical items and grammar people use when constructing “food” in scientific terms. The findings show how message writers place nutrients at the discursive center. Message writers’ grammatical constructions instrumentalize food and eating. This is reinforced by the message writers’ frequent use of terms that indicate preciseness, such as numbers and amounts. Messages therefore emphasize the what, but not the how, of eating, implying a focus on food as subject to regulation and control. As such, eating is discursively reduced to an act of ingesting nutrients that can be decontextualized and managed in isolation—as entities to increase or avoid separately. These discursive features preclude the conceptualization of food choice and eating as subjective experiences of feelings, taste, and tradition
Conceptualization · Critical discourse analysis · Feeling · Grammar · Ideology · Linguistics · Parsing · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Taste · Computer Science · Digital Communication and Language · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
Social Constructionism
Food Politics
Nutritionism
Food, Morals and Meaning
On the Ideology of Nutritionism
Discourse and social change
An Introduction to Functional Grammar
Counting on Dinner
The social construction of competence
Introduction
Trust in Numbers
Fat, Loathing and Public Health
Quantifying the body
Alcohol, Health, and Reproduction
Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis
Critical Discourse Analysis and the Marketization of Public Discourse
Food Fight! The Swedish Low-Carb/High Fat (LCHF) Movement and the Turning of Science Popularisation Against the Scientists
The power of language on patient‐centredness
Social class and body management. A qualitative exploration of differences in perceptions and practices related to health and personal body weight
The problematic messages of nutritional discourse
Healthicization and Lay Knowledge About Eating Practices in Two African American Communities
Public Expressions of Trust and Distrust in Governmental Dietary Advice in Sweden
Establishing credibility, constructing understanding
Giving up sugar and the inequalities of abstinence
Reformulation, fortification and functionalization
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |