This study used Family Communication Patterns Theory (FCPT) to explore how family-dinner-related communication takes place and how parents' feeding practices may be associated with children's preferences for dinner meals. The sample consisted of 12 dyads with seven- and eight-year-old Norwegian children and their parents. In-depth photo interviews were used for collecting data. Interview transcripts and photographs were examined through content analysis. Results indicated that most families were conversation oriented, and communication tended to shift from consensual during weekdays to pluralistic at weekends. On weekdays, the dinner menu was often a compromise between children's preferences and parents' intentions to provide quick, healthy dinner options for the family. To a greater extent at weekends, children were allowed to choose dinner alternatives for the entire family. Restriction of unhealthy dinner alternatives was the practice most used to control children's diets and, in fact, might explain children's high preferences for unhealthy dinner alternatives. Results underline the importance of giving children control of what they eat and being responsive to children's preferences while guiding them towards healthy dinner alternatives rather than using force and restriction. From a more theoretical perspective, this study explored how FCPT could be combined with theories about parents' feeding practices to understand meal preferences and choices among young children and their families, and how time and situation (context) influence families' communication patterns and feeding practices in their homes.
A young person aspiring to the title of a physician must be sure that he holds some of the following features, while there are
others he must gain: love for people, discipline, fairness, morals, permanent training, collegiality, respect for one’s predecessors
- and the list can continue.
Besides these qualities, a future dentist should be also endowed with a good ambidexterity and therefore in my view, the dentist
should possess the “3M’s” – mind, manual skills, mentor.
MIND – as, during his professional life, he has to accumulate a lot of knowledge in order to be able to establish a correct
diagnosis and draft a treatment plan according to the diagnosis. The more he knows, the abler he is to choose from among
several variants the one corresponding to the needs of the patient.
MANUAL SKILLS - as, in vain have you set a correct diagnosis, drafted an ideal treatment plan, if you cannot materialize it
adequately and your technical execution is poor and finally it impairs you entire work.
MENTOR - as in life you have to follow a model, a true professional, who has those qualities which you aspire to possess and
whom you wish to exceed in terms of your accomplishments.
We all have to agree that the profession of a dentist is special and it has to be practiced with devotion, honour and morality.
I formulated these recommendations for my younger colleagues, who are at the beginning of their professional journey, but also
for the readers of Stomatology Edu Journal, a publication seeking acknowledgment in our medical activity.