School gardening programmes are among the most promising interventions to improve children’s vegetable intake. Yet, low vegetable intake among children remains a persistent public health challenge. This study aimed to explore children’s perspectives, experiences, and motivations concerning school gardening in order to better understand and increase its potential for health promotion. Using participant observation and semi-structured interviews, we provided 45 primary schoolchildren (9–10 years) from Amsterdam, who participated in a comprehensive year-round school gardening programme, the opportunity to share their experiences and ideas on school gardening. Children particularly expressed enjoyment of the outdoor gardening portion of the programme as it enabled them to be physically active and independently nurture their gardens. Harvesting was the children’s favourite activity, followed by planting and sowing. In contrast, insufficient gardening time and long explanations or instructions were especially disliked. Experiencing fun and enjoyment appeared to play a vital role in children’s motivation to actively participate. Children’s suggestions for programme improvements included more autonomy and opportunities for experimentation, and competition elements to increase fun and variety. Our results indicate that gaining insight into children’s perspectives allows matching school gardening programmes more to children’s wishes and expectations, thereby potentially enhancing their intrinsic motivation for gardening and vegetable consumption.

Increasingly, children are seen as social actors who are knowledgeable about issues that concern their lives, both in research and policymaking. However, this approach is not without challenges, particularly in relation to sensitive topics like poverty. One key challenge relates to how to involve children effectively so that their stories are actually listened to and acted upon by policymakers. This article reflects on the potential of photovoice as a method to make explicit children's narratives about their lives and to inform policymakers of children's perspectives. We involved two groups of children living in contexts of poverty and deprivation in urban areas of the Netherlands, supporting them to refine their narrative and presentation through photography. The children were brought into contact with policymakers after they had gained experience as photographers and experiential experts. The policymakers found their narratives compelling, and there is evidence that the children's perspectives were taken on board in local government. Exhibition of the photographs using a specially designed table was also found to be an effective addition to the photovoice method. We conclude that photovoice can be successfully used to facilitate dialogue between children and policymakers, but that its use requires time, creativity and reflexivity.

Inadequate vegetable consumption is a global public health concern related to numerous health risks. A promising intervention to increase children's vegetable consumption is school gardening, although earlier studies have shown mixed results. This study explores how gardening might contribute to changed attitudes towards eating vegetables from a child's perspective. Findings are based on qualitative research with children in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We reflect on how children enact agency regarding their vegetables. Results show that children report that changes occur in their attitudes towards vegetables as they not only eat more vegetables but also advocate the consumption of vegetables at home.

There is limited knowledge about key factors that enable adolescent girls with a low socioeconomic position (SEP) to adopt a healthy lifestyle. This paper aims to better understand the complexity of addressing health behaviour of adolescent girls with a low SEP by gaining insights into (i) the perspectives of adolescent girls with a low SEP (n = 26) on a healthy lifestyle, (ii) how to develop health promotion that fits these girls’ daily realities, by using participatory action research (PAR) in which girls developed health promotion materials. The study offers an understanding of girls’ daily lives and how health promotion could be improved.

This study focuses on problems children living in contexts of poverty face in daily life and how they perceive poverty. Findings are based on research with children (8–12 years) from impoverished areas in the Netherlands. Besides the problems as identified by the children, such as the poor quality of playgrounds and the lack of money for activities, we identified a striking paradox, namely the taboo on or denial of poverty versus the pervasiveness of poverty. To understand and handle this contradiction, we reflect on representation of children growing up in contexts of poverty through a social identity framework.