Filling your own plate. Exploring the influence of autonomy on children's vegetable intake

Young children's vegetable consumption is often insufficient, partly due to food rejection behaviors such as picky eating and food neophobia. Previous research suggests that allowing children to make choices and actively engage in food-related decisions can increase food acceptance and intake by fostering feelings of autonomy and ownership. Developmental research further shows that children tend to divide resources in an equitable manner between themselves and others. Building on these insights, the present study examined whether actively allocating vegetables increases children's vegetable consumption. Children aged 4-5 years (n = 142) were randomly assigned to either a distributing or a receiving condition. In the distributing condition, children actively allocated ten pieces of broccoli between themselves and a hypothetical classmate, whereas those in the receiving condition were given a pre-divided portion of five pieces. Children were then invited to eat their share. Intake was assessed as both the absolute number of broccoli pieces consumed and the percentage of the served portion eaten. Results showed that children in the distributing condition consumed significantly more broccoli than children in the receiving condition, both in absolute terms and relative to the portion received. These findings suggest that engaging children in dividing food may enhance vegetable consumption during food portioning. Future research could investigate this autonomy-supportive approach in everyday mealtime settings.