Qualitative longitudinal study of children's food and eating in employed families, based on and complementing secondary analysis of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) Year 1 (2008-2009), the Health Survey for England (HSE) (2007-2008) and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, ‘Children of the 90’s’). A range of outcome measures was used, including a measure of overall nutrition quality, which was specifically designed for the project. Qualitative data result from case studies of 47 working families, purposively sampled from the NDNS and differentiated by income level, to study the quality of children’s diets. This part of the study sought to complement the NDNS findings and provide a fuller picture. Qualitative methods used include interviews and a range of visual methods with children, to understand the social processes which influence children both within and outside the home. Two years later, follow-up interviews (wave 2) were carried out as project "Food, families and work: taking a long view in understanding children and young people's diets". An association has been found by some researchers between overweight children and parental employment. This mixed methods study aims to examine the relationship between being an employed parent and the quality of children's diets and to understand the processes involved. The study will take into account that children's nutrition and food practices take place not only in their homes but in a range of contexts. Analysis of large scale secondary data sets (the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, Health Survey for England and Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) will examine associations between diet and parental employment status while an intensive study of 48 higher and lower income working families sampled from the NDNS will explore the meanings and uses of food in working families, the embodiment of food practices and their embeddedness in different social contexts. This part of the study will employ a range of qualitative methods, including interviews, drawing and photo elicitation, with parents and children aged 2 to 10 to understand the social processes which influence healthier and unhealthier diets of children within and outside the home. It will thereby seek to provide explanations for statistical associations found (or not found) in the survey data.

These data are from the qualitative part of a mixed methods study. A sample of working parents and their children (n=47) was drawn from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey. Semi structured interviews were conducted with employed parents (mostly mothers) and with children in some cases about food and eating at home and in other places. Some children participated in drawing and other activities such as photo-elicitation interviews.