Overview

• The longitudinal study published August 11 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine analyzed over 20 years of data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.
• Children rated by parents as consistently kind, helpful and cooperative at ages 5, 7 and 11 reported higher fruit and vegetable intake at ages 14 and 17.
• Investigators link prosocial behaviors to stronger social connections, improved mood and better stress coping as pathways to healthier dietary choices.
• Authors propose asset-based interventions that foster empathy and cooperation as a novel public health approach to improve adolescent diets.
• The research’s strengths include its large, nationally representative sample and extensive covariate adjustments, though unmeasured family factors may remain.