STUDY OF FOOD-CONSUMPTION - IN SEARCH OF A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

Changes in eating habits have been observed in many countries in recen t decades revealing the complexity of consumption models and their det ermining factors. Thus it is that the adoption of a multidisciplinary and comparative approach by which the various aspects of eating habits (economic, social, cultural and nutritional) may be assessed so as to permit the elucidation of the mechanisms responsible for these change s and their consequences in different socio-economic contexts, becomes even more necessary The contributions of the various areas of knowled ge to the study of the nutritional situation are here analysed and the approach to this theme in countries of the North tmd the South is dis cussed, as is, specifically, the situation in Brazil. Finally, the ana lysis of the consumption of food-stuffs on the basis of the nation of ''food systems'' within a historical perspective, is proposed The vari ous social agents (producers, distributors, consumers, State), their s ystems of logic, their strategies and the relationships which they est ablish among themselves over time are taken into account in such a way as to make possible an understanding of the process by which eating h abits are constructed and developed.