Eating at school: Examining the nutritional approach to healthy eating at school by means of positioning theory

In this article, we examine how the policies formulated by Danish school authorities concerning eating at school are implemented by staff and interpreted by schoolchildren. We use positioning theory in order to analyse how authorities, staff and children engage in a mutual positioning, within and between different moral orders. We conclude that the official food policies are off-target and that schoolchildren should instead develop a kind of local citizenship displaying an ability to manoeuvre between different positions such that this participation expresses a way of belonging to the school environment not currently acknowledged by authorities and staff.