Interpretation of food risks by mothers of kindergarten children in St.Petersburg, Russia, and their strategies of risk handling

This study discusses different types of food risks and different strategies of risk handling as conceived by mothers of kindergarten children in Russia. The research includes an analysis of Internet forum discussions and semi-structured interviews; it mainly used data from well-educated, middle-class, and married women from St. Petersburg and Moscow. Three groups of food risks have derived from the analysis of the empirical data: risks stemmed from the non-observance of sanitary and other rules, risks from products coveted by children, and “invisible” risks. The second group of risks, the food obsessions of the children, was the one which the mothers were mainly concerned with and most actively tried to manage. Consequently, a broad range of their strategies became apparent, varying from denial and patience to the shaping of collective action groups. The strategies are formulated into three large groups: resistance, non-resistance, and adaptation. Generally mothers mainly dealt with the second group of food risks and adaptation was the preferred strategy.