Early adolescence is a critical time for health behavior development because agency increases during the transition from childhood to adolescence. This qualitative study sought to identify how early adolescent participants described food-related agency. One-on-one interviews were conducted with 30 early adolescents (10-13 years). Data analysis was guided by Bandura's three modes of agency: personal, proxy, and collective. Results suggest participants' food behaviors were informed by a growing knowledge about nutrition, household food rules, and school food environments. Participants described different modes of agency in four areas - grocery shopping, cooking, consumption decisions, and nutrition information seeking - with varying degrees of agency in each area. Understanding how each of the three modes operate and the interplay between them can information future research aimed at improving the nutrition behaviors of early adolescents.
Keywords: Adolescence; Adolescent health; Agency; Collective agency; Consumption; Cooking; Food choice; Grocery shopping; Nutrition; Proxy agency; Qualitative research.
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