healthy life
Interviews
First generation (Grandparents).
Grandparent 1: Hans Van Heeren, 85 years old, male.
1. How many people were there in your parents’ family?
‘My family existed of my father, my mother, my 5 siblings and myself.’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
’My father was a salesman and my mother was a housewife.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
’We lived in Eindhoven in the south of Holland.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this?
’When the Germans came, this was such a scary thing and although I was still very young this really left his trails.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
’In the war there wasn’t a lot to eat but when we had food it were things like potatoes, vegetables and meat, sometimes stew.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
’We bought our food in different stores like the grocery store bakery etc.
My mother often baked her own bread and made her own bloodsausage.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
’We played soccer in our free time and my sisters played hockey.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
’There wasn’t as much to choose from as now but enough to keep you fit and happy.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
’We had PE lessons during the week and got milk to keep us strong and fit.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
’No, in my time we played outside and didn’t eat as much junk food as the kids do nowadays.’
Grandparent 2: Toos Goorkate, 93 years old, female.
1. How many people were there in your family?
‘My family consisted of my Father, my mother, me and my 6 siblings.’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
‘My Father was a stukadoor and my mother was a housewife.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘We lived in Winterswijk in a tiny house (Tuunterstraat).’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this.
‘I remember the war very well; we had problems to get enough food for everyone. We went often to an uncle who was farmer outside Winterswijk to get potatoes and vegetables ‘
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
‘It was always some kind of meat, potatoes and vegetables. Always fresh.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘Most came from the grocery and some was grown in our garden (fruit, carrots and beans).’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘Together with my 3 sisters we played korfball, we practiced 2 times per week. We did not have a car so we travelled often by bike, train or on foot.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
‘There was a korfball field outside Winterswijk. We also had a field for football and a running track in Winterswijk.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
‘We had qymnastics at school. There was no candy at school nor soda’s, only milk and bread.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘No, they eat more candy and sit a lot on the couch with a cellphone or the tv. They should play outside more and take the bike as much as possible.’
Grandparent 3: Kees, 90 years old, male.
1. How many people were there in your family?
‘I lived with my parents and my 6 siblings.‘
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
‘My dad was a farmer, and my mother was a housewife.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘We used to live on a farm in voorschoten.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this.
‘When I was around 14, it was mid world war 2, I experienced a bombardment due to the germans lack of judgement, they accidentally dropped a bomb about half a kilometre from our farm.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
‘Yes, because we grew and raised our food ourselves.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘We produced practically all of our food ourselves.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit?
‘What kind of sports/exercise?; I’d work on the farm regularly.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
‘It was during the war, so no.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
‘We’d regularly have PE.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘Yes, because they have way more acces to better healthcare.’
Grandparent 4: Bep, 89 years old, female.
1. How many people were there in your family?
‘I had my parents and 10 siblings.’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
‘My father worked in agriculture and my mom was a housewife.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘In a big house in Stompwijk’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this.
‘My family had helped hide Dutch soldiers during the war.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
‘Yes, because we all grew it ourselves.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘We produced most of our food ourselves.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘I rowed and I rode my bike often.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
‘Not really, it was mainly farmland.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
‘We’d regularly have PE.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘Yes, because there is alot more acces to healthy food in comparison to my time.’
Second generation (Parents).
Parent 1: Anouk Van Heeren, 52 years old, female.
1. How many people were there in your parents’ family?
’My family consisted of 4 people, my mother, my father and my brother’.
Nuclear family.
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
’My father was a businessman and my mother was a housewife.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘In Eersel in the south of Holland.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event from when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this?
‘The nuclear power plant explosion named ‘tsjernobyl’, this accident made me aware of our vulnerability for nuclear power.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
’Yes, the food was more or less healthy the menu existed of meat vegetables and potatoes, we nowadays wouldn’t call this very healthy but it was a good meal.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘In the local food store where you could find lots of different products, it was a big store from a VOC.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘Yes, we practiced variable sports like hockey, tennis and golf.’ ‘I myself only practiced hockey and tennis.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
’Yes, there was enough to choose from you could even sometimes practice certain sports at home.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
’We had obligated PE lessons 2 or 3 times a week for which you received marks, we also had sports days.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘No, I think it’s more or less the same, some say the food is healthier but there’s also lots of new candy and chemical drinks that are really bad for you only the amount of people smoking has reduced a bit but not as much as it should.’
Parent 2: Ammar 48 years old, male.
1. How many people were there in your parents’ family?
‘5 boys and 6 girls with the 2 parents means 13 people in the household.’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
‘Father = police - mother= housewife.’
3. Where did your parent live?
‘Al askan, Basra.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager?
Why were you impressed by this.
‘No don’t remember anything.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
‘Not really, food was as usual in middle eastern countries full of fatts and meats.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘Yes they produced melons and watermelons in their garden. The food was bought from the local supermarket.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘Dad- Running and Body comeptions- brother - running - brother - weights.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
‘Yes there were gyms and running areas and much more.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
‘Yes, they had PE mostly playing football.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘Back in time was better, nowadays there is chemicals everywhere in food that it makes almost nothing natural.’
Parent 3: Ban, 43 years old, female.
1. How many people were there in your family?
‘There were 4 kids and 2 parents- just the family so 6 people.’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
‘Father = school director - mother= teacher.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘Hayy Al Khalij Al Arabi, Basrah, Iraq.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager?
Why were you impressed by this.
‘No.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
‘Again, the food was different from time to time it could be healthy and sometimes not’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘Yes they produced, cucumber, aubergine, tomatoes, water meloen and much more the food was brought from the local supermarket.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘Grandpa= boxing- gymnastics, brother= karate , brother= football.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
‘Yes many gyms.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
‘Yes they had PE where they did the regular gym exercises.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘The food was natural and healthier so back then was better.’
Parent 4: Johan, 51 years old, male.
1. How many people were there in your parents’ family?
’4 siblings. Parents and children, so 6. Nuclear, because there weren’t any cousins/grandparents,’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
’They were farmers, that specialised in milking cows.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘In Voorschoten.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event from when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this?
‘A historical fact what impressed me: the apparently everlasting war between Iran and Irak.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
’The food I got was healthy. we were taught the "schijf van vijf" with daily minimum intake of 5 nutrients and my mom kept a close eye on it.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘My mom bought the food in the supermarket of Hoogvliet, but we also had our own grown vegetables and these grown by neighbors like lettuce, green beans, endive, kale, sprouts.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘My sisters played badminton and my brother soccer, I used to help a lot on my dad's farm, but I did not really practice a sport.’
8. Were there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
’There were sufficient facilities to practice sports and exercises but nowadays there are a great deal more.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
’The school had swimming classes 1x per week. We walked the “avondvierdaagse", we had a sporting day in the year and we played the schools soccer tournament each year.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘I am afraid that children have a less healthy life nowadays. Despite much more facilities for sports and exercises the digital screens seem to swallow most of their time.’
Note: pictures, audio recordings and videos of the interviewed persons were not made as no permission was given for this. Therefore, evidence of the interviews have not been published.
First generation (Grandparents).
Grandparent 1: Hans Van Heeren, 85 years old, male.
1. How many people were there in your parents’ family?
‘My family existed of my father, my mother, my 5 siblings and myself.’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
’My father was a salesman and my mother was a housewife.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
’We lived in Eindhoven in the south of Holland.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this?
’When the Germans came, this was such a scary thing and although I was still very young this really left his trails.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
’In the war there wasn’t a lot to eat but when we had food it were things like potatoes, vegetables and meat, sometimes stew.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
’We bought our food in different stores like the grocery store bakery etc.
My mother often baked her own bread and made her own bloodsausage.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
’We played soccer in our free time and my sisters played hockey.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
’There wasn’t as much to choose from as now but enough to keep you fit and happy.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
’We had PE lessons during the week and got milk to keep us strong and fit.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
’No, in my time we played outside and didn’t eat as much junk food as the kids do nowadays.’
Grandparent 2: Toos Goorkate, 93 years old, female.
1. How many people were there in your family?
‘My family consisted of my Father, my mother, me and my 6 siblings.’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
‘My Father was a stukadoor and my mother was a housewife.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘We lived in Winterswijk in a tiny house (Tuunterstraat).’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this.
‘I remember the war very well; we had problems to get enough food for everyone. We went often to an uncle who was farmer outside Winterswijk to get potatoes and vegetables ‘
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
‘It was always some kind of meat, potatoes and vegetables. Always fresh.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘Most came from the grocery and some was grown in our garden (fruit, carrots and beans).’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘Together with my 3 sisters we played korfball, we practiced 2 times per week. We did not have a car so we travelled often by bike, train or on foot.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
‘There was a korfball field outside Winterswijk. We also had a field for football and a running track in Winterswijk.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
‘We had qymnastics at school. There was no candy at school nor soda’s, only milk and bread.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘No, they eat more candy and sit a lot on the couch with a cellphone or the tv. They should play outside more and take the bike as much as possible.’
Grandparent 3: Kees, 90 years old, male.
1. How many people were there in your family?
‘I lived with my parents and my 6 siblings.‘
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
‘My dad was a farmer, and my mother was a housewife.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘We used to live on a farm in voorschoten.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this.
‘When I was around 14, it was mid world war 2, I experienced a bombardment due to the germans lack of judgement, they accidentally dropped a bomb about half a kilometre from our farm.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
‘Yes, because we grew and raised our food ourselves.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘We produced practically all of our food ourselves.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit?
‘What kind of sports/exercise?; I’d work on the farm regularly.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
‘It was during the war, so no.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
‘We’d regularly have PE.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘Yes, because they have way more acces to better healthcare.’
Grandparent 4: Bep, 89 years old, female.
1. How many people were there in your family?
‘I had my parents and 10 siblings.’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
‘My father worked in agriculture and my mom was a housewife.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘In a big house in Stompwijk’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this.
‘My family had helped hide Dutch soldiers during the war.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
‘Yes, because we all grew it ourselves.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘We produced most of our food ourselves.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘I rowed and I rode my bike often.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
‘Not really, it was mainly farmland.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
‘We’d regularly have PE.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘Yes, because there is alot more acces to healthy food in comparison to my time.’
Second generation (Parents).
Parent 1: Anouk Van Heeren, 52 years old, female.
1. How many people were there in your parents’ family?
’My family consisted of 4 people, my mother, my father and my brother’.
Nuclear family.
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
’My father was a businessman and my mother was a housewife.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘In Eersel in the south of Holland.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event from when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this?
‘The nuclear power plant explosion named ‘tsjernobyl’, this accident made me aware of our vulnerability for nuclear power.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
’Yes, the food was more or less healthy the menu existed of meat vegetables and potatoes, we nowadays wouldn’t call this very healthy but it was a good meal.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘In the local food store where you could find lots of different products, it was a big store from a VOC.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘Yes, we practiced variable sports like hockey, tennis and golf.’ ‘I myself only practiced hockey and tennis.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
’Yes, there was enough to choose from you could even sometimes practice certain sports at home.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
’We had obligated PE lessons 2 or 3 times a week for which you received marks, we also had sports days.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘No, I think it’s more or less the same, some say the food is healthier but there’s also lots of new candy and chemical drinks that are really bad for you only the amount of people smoking has reduced a bit but not as much as it should.’
Parent 2: Ammar 48 years old, male.
1. How many people were there in your parents’ family?
‘5 boys and 6 girls with the 2 parents means 13 people in the household.’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
‘Father = police - mother= housewife.’
3. Where did your parent live?
‘Al askan, Basra.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager?
Why were you impressed by this.
‘No don’t remember anything.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
‘Not really, food was as usual in middle eastern countries full of fatts and meats.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘Yes they produced melons and watermelons in their garden. The food was bought from the local supermarket.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘Dad- Running and Body comeptions- brother - running - brother - weights.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
‘Yes there were gyms and running areas and much more.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
‘Yes, they had PE mostly playing football.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘Back in time was better, nowadays there is chemicals everywhere in food that it makes almost nothing natural.’
Parent 3: Ban, 43 years old, female.
1. How many people were there in your family?
‘There were 4 kids and 2 parents- just the family so 6 people.’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
‘Father = school director - mother= teacher.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘Hayy Al Khalij Al Arabi, Basrah, Iraq.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager?
Why were you impressed by this.
‘No.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
‘Again, the food was different from time to time it could be healthy and sometimes not’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘Yes they produced, cucumber, aubergine, tomatoes, water meloen and much more the food was brought from the local supermarket.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘Grandpa= boxing- gymnastics, brother= karate , brother= football.’
8. Where there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
‘Yes many gyms.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
‘Yes they had PE where they did the regular gym exercises.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘The food was natural and healthier so back then was better.’
Parent 4: Johan, 51 years old, male.
1. How many people were there in your parents’ family?
’4 siblings. Parents and children, so 6. Nuclear, because there weren’t any cousins/grandparents,’
2. What was the profession of your father/mother?
’They were farmers, that specialised in milking cows.’
3. Where did you live with your parents?
‘In Voorschoten.’
4. Do you remember any historical fact / event from when you were a teenager? Why were you impressed by this?
‘A historical fact what impressed me: the apparently everlasting war between Iran and Irak.’
5. Was the food served in your family healthy?
’The food I got was healthy. we were taught the "schijf van vijf" with daily minimum intake of 5 nutrients and my mom kept a close eye on it.’
6. Where did your family buy the food? Did they produce any food themselves?
‘My mom bought the food in the supermarket of Hoogvliet, but we also had our own grown vegetables and these grown by neighbors like lettuce, green beans, endive, kale, sprouts.’
7. Did the family members practice some sports/exercise to stay fit? What kind of sports/exercise?
‘My sisters played badminton and my brother soccer, I used to help a lot on my dad's farm, but I did not really practice a sport.’
8. Were there sufficient facilities to practice sports/exercises?
’There were sufficient facilities to practice sports and exercises but nowadays there are a great deal more.’
9. What did the school do to make children stay fit?
’The school had swimming classes 1x per week. We walked the “avondvierdaagse", we had a sporting day in the year and we played the schools soccer tournament each year.’
10. Do you think that children nowadays have a healthier life than in your time?
‘I am afraid that children have a less healthy life nowadays. Despite much more facilities for sports and exercises the digital screens seem to swallow most of their time.’
Note: pictures, audio recordings and videos of the interviewed persons were not made as no permission was given for this. Therefore, evidence of the interviews have not been published.