The present qualitative study concerns the food practice concepts and meanings of lower-class overweight women. Issues associated with social and cultural conditions in urban areas are part of a transformation process marked by lack of time and the quest of convenience. Ultra-processed food, athough seen as unnecessary in the past are nowadays considered a basic staple by the lower class in Rio de Janeiro. This new reality confronts the contemporary discourse about healthy eating, which is focused on the demand for consuming “healthier” products. Such scenario demands the informants a constant reinterpretation about the act of “eating”, oscillating between pleasure and guilt. The current study discusses the need of understanding these expressions based on a restricted framework of possibilities determined by micro and macro-social aspects. These aspects shape the contemporary mode of food production and distribution in our society.
Food practices; Culture; Overweight