Abigail Knight

Promoting young people’s health: the health concerns and needs of young people

A five‐month exploratory in‐depth study was conducted in two sites in England with young people age 8‐17 years and adults with a professional or personal interest in health promotion within this age group. Over 90 young people and 40 adults, including parents, teachers, youth workers, health promotion officers, general practitioners and clinical staff, were interviewed. The study aimed to examine adults’ and young peoples’, sometimes differing, beliefs about health, illness and health promotion messages. The findings suggested that young people operate with an integrated concept of health and well‐being which affords high importance to social relations and social activities. Similarly, adults with a broad professional role in relation to young people tended to report that they did not favour a focus on specific health topics, such as drugs, smoking and sexual health, but would prefer to provide a more inclusive approach which takes account of the mental, emotional and social dimensions of health experiences. The research suggests that a narrow focus solely on commonly‐defined priorities, such as drugs and sexual health, may not meet the needs of young people.

Teenage Pregnancy among Young People in and Leaving Care: Messages and Implications for Foster Care

Previous research has shown that looked after children and young people are vulnerable to poor life outcomes, including early pregnancy. Abigail Knight, Elaine Chase and Peter Aggleton discuss findings from a Department of Health-funded study on teenage pregnancy among young people in and leaving care. Using in-depth interviews, data were collected from 63 recently looked after young people aged 15 to 24 and from 78 associated professionals from a range of backgrounds, across four research sites. This paper focuses specifically on young peoples experiences of foster care and the interface between foster care and the emotional influences surrounding pregnancy, opportunities for and challenges to learning about sex and relationships, and the provision of support during pregnancy and early parenthood. Findings suggest the need to provide foster carers with support, training and guidance concerning relevant and appropriate education for young people with regard to sex and relationships. The findings also indicate the need for specialist guidance on these matters in mother and baby foster care placements so as to benefit foster carers, young parents and their babies alike.

Using Narrative Sources from the Mass Observation Archive to Study Everyday Food and Families in Hard Times: Food Practices in England During 1950

By using examples from food and domestic life in England during 1950, this paper examines the use of narrative archival sources as a methodological alternative to researching everyday food practices by traditional research methods, such as interviewing. Through the analysis of three diaries written for the Mass Observation Archive, and the everyday food practices expressed in these diaries, we consider the benefits and challenges of using narrative archival diary data to gain insights into food and eating during times of austerity. Before presenting and discussing the cases, we outline some of the challenges of researching food practices as a result of the muted, moral and mundane aspects of such practices. We then describe the study on which this paper is based, including a discussion of our methods and the reasons for using diaries and selecting our cases. Following this, we set the scene for understanding food and eating in 1950s Britain, such as contextual background about rationing during the Second World War, government policy and propaganda of the time. In our analysis of the three diaries, we discuss some of the ways in which the data have enabled us to ‘get at’ and provide insights into habitual food practices.

Child food poverty requires radical long term solutions

The end of the summer holidays will be a respite for children experiencing holiday hunger. But as Rebecca O’Connell and colleagues explain, food poverty is a problem all year round