Women as mothers continue to take prime responsibility for feeding the family, particularly babies and infants (Murphy, 1998), and for inducting children into eating environments. This paper reports on findings from a qualitative study with women (2006–2008), in a city in the north of the England which explored transitions to motherhood and early family formation through the empirical lens of food.

1. The impact of obesity discourses on maternal identities and parenting practices Julia Keenan (UEA) Helen Stapleton (Australian Catholic University & Mater Mothers' Hospital) Feeding Children in the New Parenting Culture . British Library, 20 th March 2011.

8. An expanded accounts framework (Monaghan 2008) Discursive framings… Accept pejorative status Deny or challenge pejorative status Accept responsibility Contrition (Compliance) Justifications (Critical compliance) Deny (relevance of) responsibility Excuses (Mitigation) Repudiation

13. “ even if I won the lottery and had loads of money, I still would not pay for liposuction or owt like that[..] I can’t see the point because that’s just the easy way out isn’t it, you’ve not learned anything by it, you’ve just gone and had all your fat sucked out of you […] If it’s for health problems, fair enough but not just to make themselves look good. I don’t, what’s the point; you are what you are” C1-O2/Fiona “ because he’s a bit of a slow grower really, erm, he’s sort of in the small range for his age. You know with respect to his weight and size. So I’m, I’m not forcing stuff down him but I’m encouraging him to eat. What he can but. He’s just not interested and I’m not physically holding his nose and forcing it down him […] but I am trying to encourage him to be interested in food” C2-O/Gemma

16. Accept responsibility Deny responsibility Accept pejorative status Deny pejorative status Compliance Critical compliance Repudiation Mitigation Nighat