In exploring the emergence of scientific scholarship on the field of eating and nutrition in Brazil, the article examines works produced and published from 1934 to 1941 that disseminated and sought to encourage application of the conceptual and methodological bases of rational eating. Employing theory on the social genesis of a field, the investigation reveals that intellectuals in the area relied on a standardized approach and modus operandi: the indication of interventionist practices in eating and nutritional education which targeted large numbers of people and were influenced by the era's social and educational ideas and by the notion of education as a tool for social redemption.
history of eating and nutrition; field of knowledge; eating and nutritional education; 1930s; Brazil
