Healthy Eating in the Context of Russians’ Everyday Life

Abstract

The article discusses the issues of healthy eating in Russia. The authors consider healthy eating as social practice deeply embedded in the social context. The article is based on the results of an empirical study conducted by the authors in January-March 2018. The purpose of the study was to identify factors in the development of healthy eating practices. Expert semi-structured interviews were used for data collection; 30 experts were interviewed. The experts were “advanced” health-conscious consumers (13) and professionals who are involved in the system of healthy eating (17). The authors show that informants associate healthy eating with the consumption of healthy foods and a proper diet. At the same time, "advanced" health-conscious consumers consider healthy eating as a resistance to the impact of harmful factors on health. Professional experts focus on the correlation between healthy eating and healthy lifestyle. The most significant factor of healthy eating is a personal motivation which depends on the values, beliefs of the person, his/her personal experience, and on external factors (the surrounding environment, the information field of nutrition, the market for healthy food, the institutions of social control of food consumption). The key social factors of healthy eating include age, level of education and culture, income level of consumers.