Intergenerational Differences in Cultural Capital and Food Promotion Perceptions: Evidence from Urban Indian Families

This study examines intergenerational differences in cultural capital and attitudes toward marketing of high-fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) foods in urban, middle-class Indian households. A survey of parents (n = 218) and co-residing grandparents (n = 40) assessed values, food-related skills, and nutrition knowledge. The questionnaire incorporated validated multi-item scales measuring general human values, social beliefs, and nutrition-related competencies, thereby operationalizing cultural capital across embodied, institutionalized, and objectified dimensions. Parents scored higher on food information skills and sugar and protein knowledge, aligning with health discourse and media literacy. Grandparents relied on traditional caregiving and culinary practices. Drawing the forms of capital framework, findings revealed selective intergenerational contrasts in nutrition literacy and policy receptivity, while awareness of promotional environments remained largely convergent across cohorts, indicating that intergenerational negotiation occurs primarily at the level of interpretive evaluation rather than exposure itself.