Connecting a sociology of childhood perspective with the study of child health, illness and wellbeing: introduction.

In the last decades we have seen a growing interest in research into children's own experiences and understandings of health and illness. This development, we would argue, is much stimulated by the sociology of childhood which has drawn our attention to how children as a social group are placed and perceived within the structure of society, and within inter-generational relations, as well as how children are social agents and co-constructors of their social world. Drawing on this tradition, we here address some cross-cutting themes that we think are important to further the study of child health: situating children within health policy, drawing attention to practices around children's health and well-being and a focus on children as health actors.

The management of situated risk: a parental perspective on child food allergy.

Food allergy is an illness that requires constant risk management in everyday life. To date, there is no cure or preventive treatment, and the only way to manage the condition is therefore careful avoidance of the offending foodstuff and treatment of reactions when they occur. This article draws on a socio-cultural approach to explore parents' understandings and management of child food allergy in the context of everyday life, as 'situated' risk.

Pregnant women's responses to information about an increased risk of carrying a baby with Down syndrome.

Background: Fetal screening for Down syndrome by an ultrasound examination, including measurement of fetal nuchal translucency, at 12 to14 weeks' gestation is presently being evaluated in a Swedish randomized controlled trial. Women at high risk were offered an amniocentesis to obtain a definite diagnosis. The aim of this study was to explore women's reactions and responses to information about being at high risk after the scan, with a special focus on reactions to a false positive test.

Expressive bodies: demented persons' communication in a dance therapy context.

Dementia is a disease that brings with it various limitations in the afflicted person's communication with others. The purpose of this study is to explore, not the limitations, but the capacity of the demented person to communicate under conditions that differ from the everyday life of the care institution. Group dance therapy sessions with elderly, demented persons were video-taped and analysed with a focus on how verbal and non-verbal modes of communication were used by the participants.

"Social thinking" and cultural images: teenagers' notions of tobacco use.

The health hazards of tobacco use are well-known, and it is considered particularly important to prevent tobacco use among teenagers. New generations of teenagers still start using tobacco. To develop a more profound understanding of tobacco use among teenagers, the purpose of this study is to explore representations of tobacco use, smoking as well as snuffing, at the age when young people often start using tobacco.

Lay voices on allergic conditions in children: parents' narratives and the negotiation of a diagnosis.

Allergic conditions can be seen as an increasing as well as debated health problem in Western societies, but lay notions and experiences of these conditions are still not fully understood. As much attention is given to prevention of allergic conditions in early childhood, for example as medical advice to parents of young children, it is of particular interest to look at lay understandings of allergic conditions in childhood. This study, carried out in Sweden, explores understandings of child allergy, drawing on interviews with parents of children under 6 years, in a period when the children are medically assessed.