What Would Be the Best School Meal If You Were to Decide? Pupils ’ Perceptions on What Constitutes a Good School Meal

Abstract. Much attention is given to school meals as a way to prevent childhood obesity. This article is concerned with a perspective that is often lost in the pre-sent debate, namely the perspective of pupils on what constitutes a good meal. The article draws on the findings of an action research process in a Danish public school and presents the perspectives of a group of eighth-grade pupils, with the aim of voicing their opinions and positioning them as co-constructors of school meals. Inspired by the work of Henri Lefebvre and literature on the sociology of childhood and meals, the article demonstrates how pupils ’ perspectives on what constitutes a good school meal are concerned with much more than food and are only associated weakly with healthy nutrition. Pupils perceive school meals as a means of being social and as a break from the order of school life. They are concerned with the construction of meal spaces and with the sensuous experi-ence of eating. Subsequently, it is argued that there are both epistemological and ethical arguments for including pupils ’ perspectives in research on school meals. Furthermore, including pupils ’ preferences in the planning of school meals might eventually build school meals in which pupils enjoy to participate and are there-fore more likely to be health promoting