The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between mothers’ and children’s vegetable intake and whether children are conscious about their vegetable intake.

Cross-sectional study. Self-administered questionnaires for mothers and children, consisting of items regarding diet history, were distributed to children via homeroom teachers. We created dummy exposure variables for each quartile of mothers’ vegetable intake. Multiple regression analysis was performed with children’s vegetable intake as the outcome variable.

Two public elementary schools in a residential district of Tokyo, Japan.

Study participants were upper-grade children (aged 10–12 years) and their mothers (332 pairs of mothers and children).

The mean vegetable intake in mothers and children was 310 (sd 145) g/d and 276 (sd 105) g/d, respectively. A positive linear relationship was found between mothers’ and children’s vegetable intake even after adjustment for considerable covariates (P<0·001). When stratified by children’s consciousness, the positive linear relationship was more pronounced in children who were conscious of eating all their vegetables (P<0·001 for interaction with children’s consciousness).

Mothers’ vegetable intake was significantly correlated with children’s vegetable intake. However, this correlation was stronger in children who were conscious of eating all their vegetables. Our findings suggest that enhancing mother’s vegetable intake and health consciousness of children are indispensable prerequisites for increasing vegetable intake among children.

To review associations between the family environment and young people’s fruit and vegetable consumption.

A systematic review. Published English-language (n 60) papers were identified using electronic databases and manual searches of personal files and reference lists. Observational research reporting a measure of fruit/vegetable intake for children (aged 6–11 years) and/or adolescents (aged 12–18 years) and at least one potential family correlate of dietary intake was included.

Parental modelling and parental intake were consistently and positively associated with children’s fruit and fruit, juice and vegetable (FJV) consumption. There were also positive associations between home availability, family rules and parental encouragement and children’s fruit and vegetable consumption. Parental intake was positively associated with adolescents’ fruit and vegetable consumption. There were also positive associations between parental occupational status and adolescent fruit consumption and between parental education and adolescents’ FJV consumption.

Our findings highlight the importance of targeting the family environment for the promotion of healthy eating behaviours among children and adolescents. Future interventions should encourage parents to be positive role models by targeting parental intake and to create a supportive home environment through increased encouragement and availability of fruits and vegetables and employing rules to govern eating behaviours. For adolescents, indicators of family circumstances (e.g. parental education) should be used to identify target groups for interventions aimed at promoting healthy eating.