Table 2 Results of data analysis and CGT coding technique

Culture and community of mealtimes

Rituals

Rules, routines, flexibility, transition, local practices, food environment: physical, emotional atmosphere, positional power imbalance, surveillance, control, tension.

Routine, transition, temporal influence (hurry), sleep/rest association with routine: post-prandial expectation, environmental controls: table configuration, inside/outside, placement, lighting, music, loud noise, utensils: absence and adult-size and age appropriate, cleaning, packing up, supervision, monitoring, emotional tone: tension vs relaxed, social, conversation, compassion, subversion, individual attention.

Food preference development

Food availability, guided food choice, control, information sharing, perception of healthy eating, discretionary food, utensil competency,

Menu, food service, supervision, monitoring, assistance with containers, controlling feeding practices, supportive feeding practices, healthy food, unhealthy food, food sharing, subversion, culturally diverse food, food safety, waste food, sustainability,

Socialisation

Role model, supervision, monitoring, compliance, socialisation, educator influence, control, social interaction, physical assistance, competency with utensils, learning opportunities (and missed..), extended learning, home culture, judgement, moral work, community of educators, community of children, peer influence.

Peer modelling, peer-negotiation, dispute, behavioural expectation, social mealtimes, moral work, extension to home (informing – good/bad behaviour), social commentary, behavioural threats, consequences, play at mealtimes, food sharing, imaginative play, coercion, communication, normalized behaviour, behavioural comparison, tension, social, reward for behaviour of eating, atmosphere, decision-making, inclusion, exclusion, separation/isolation.

Learning moments

child agency, control, socialisation, rules, communication, social eating, food choice, novel food, peer influence, learning opportunities, passive learning, extended learning, intentional learning, food systems, food values, food connections.

Peer influence, storytelling, information sharing, subversion, peer modelling, food sharing, food play and role play, social interaction vs behavioural expectations, play at mealtimes, relaxed vs controlled mealtimes, sustainable and interactive food systems, food cycle, reading books.

Agency: child agency, educator agency, caregiver agency, tension

Communication, food availability, extended learning, food choice, food selection, sensory engagement, food preference development, educator feeding practices, child eating behaviour valued food, novel food, controlling feeding practices, supportive feeding practices, conformity, regulation – child educator, non-regulation – caregiver, educator influences, peer influences, caregiver influences, learning opportunity.

Foodservice, lunchbox, home food, cultural food, food preparation demonstration, food safety, food likes and dislikes, appetite, hunger and fullness cues, educator verbal cues (finish eating), praise, instruction, portion control, food as reward + (discretionary food as reward), coercion, guided food selection, child chooses to sit/not to sit.