Individual responsibility and the future of the nation. A case study of Icelandic public health measures to promote healthy eating and drinking

This paper analyses public health measures promoting healthy eating and drinking implemented in Iceland in the early 2010s as a case study of policy developed according to local perceptions of health and cultural meanings attributed to the consumption of certain goods. It explores the ways in which public health experts incorporated social and political identities in their programmes to achieve compliance with the expected conduct. The appeal to the individual sense of responsibility not only for one's body, but for the community as a whole is presented as a key rhetoric, while the focus on the younger generations is examined in relation to the need to safeguard the future of the nation. The paper hence discusses the recourse in health promotion messaging to powerful images of identification with a special people and the need (and the duty) to preserve the political and biological legacy of the Icelanders.