Children’s nutrition is an important element of lifestyles studies, since the regularity,
method, and nutritional content of childhood meals determine our physical and mental
health and our entire adult life. Prior to 2018, there had been no interdisciplinary
basic research on the topic in Hungary, so to fill the gap, in 2018, an interdisciplinary
research group was established at the Institute of Ethnology, which carried out nationwide
research. The present study is based on the fieldwork experience from two schools investigated
by the author: the János Lenkey Primary School in Eger (formerly Primary School No.
1) and the Tamás Bolyki Primary School in Ózd, as well as a large amount of information
gleaned from questionnaires and interviews. My research was also extended in terms
of historical perspectives: I carried out archival source exploration and expanded
the field of my investigations with a research location well-known from my previous
research, Salgótarján, as a sort of vantage point next to Ózd and Eger, a third typical
city in northern Hungary. Children’s public catering has gone through significant changes
in the last 6-7 years, but prior to that, it showed a relatively uniform level, corresponding
to the current level of sources of raw material. The public catering and general work
obligation, which started in the Rákosi era and culminated in the Kádár era, significantly
changed the eating habits of families. The traditional elements typical for a locality
have disappeared as the globalization efforts of socialism were accomplished. The ever
shortening times for preparing, cooking, and consuming food moved society in the direction
of canteens, fast food restaurants, and later, after the regime change, global fast
food chains. At the moment, education on proper nutrition is not part of academic
teacher training, so for lack of a better way, teachers organize children’s school
meals based on their own experience and socialization or following the school’s regulations
(if there are any), without a unified concept. The number of meals at home has been
reduced to light breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, with families mostly sitting down
together at the dinner table, often consuming ready meals. The lack of contact with
the food and the person preparing the food has a negative impact on children’s psychological
development. Relying on extensive basic research and participant observation, through
the joint effort of specialists from several fields of social sciences, a significant
improvement could be achieved in both public catering and education on healthy nutrition.
