Professor Brian Wansik is the director of the Food and Trademark Laboratory of Cornell University (New York), and is among the researchers who conducted that study we were talking about last week. Remember, it was about using attractive names for different healthy foods, so that the chances of children choosing them were increased.
Well, Professor Wansik was also in charge of another experiment in which 22 children aged six to 10 participated during a summer camp. The idea of departure is to make each of the participants think about the food chosen by some known characters. And the children only had to reflect before meals, about the next question What would the character ask to accompany the menu: apples or chips?, the selection of celebrities included super heroes and other acquaintances that the little ones admire. And the children were directly questioned about the choice of the character, so that after the little exercise, 45% of the kids preferred apples, compared to 9% who had chosen the fruit when they were not shown the images.
Apples represent an intake of 37 calories, while french fries provide 227 calories. "With them eating fast food once a week, if they change from potato chips to apples, we would be saving children an increase of one and a half kilograms a year," Brian Wansink argued.
And the professor also spoke in the presentation of his experiment, of the 'neophobia' which is that the child does not eat what is unfamiliar. Which has a lot to do with the habits that have been established at home, and this leads me to think that the performance of parents is more important than we think.
But neophobia can be reversed when an insane food is replaced by a healthier one, wielding (or not) different arguments, including the fact that an exemplary character also takes those fruits or vegetables that children are intended to ingest, as well as the verification of the properties or benefits that are obtained. On the other hand it seems clear that forcing healthy eating when you don't have the habit does not cause the same effect.
The secret, says Dr. Wansink, is to let children associate food with the positive, make it fun. He points out that in the 1930s, when the Popeye cartoon was very popular, a survey was conducted where children said ice cream was their favorite food but their second preference was spinach. Popeye beat the cartoon villains when he consumed a can of spinach
In the same line, Wansink also He has told McDonalds that when they sign proportional agreements with the film industry, they replace the appearance of brand-name products on the screen, with images of the character of the film with an apple in his hand or a glass of milk. It seems that the company's reaction was positive, and they responded that they would study the proposal.
I think that the sample is too small to be considered extrapolated to other situations, besides being participating in a camp can be a guarantee that the food will be healthy. But nevertheless The idea is very funny, and what is clear is that sometimes advertising stimuli are needed like the Zespri campaign, or the already forgotten Popeye who gained strength after eating spinach, so that children accept healthy food.
I I still think that families have a lot to do, because forcing healthy eating does not make much sense, but we can control the consumption of unhealthy foods, and fill the table where we eat balanced menus. If we do this day by day, we are consolidating a good habit.
Images | Owens Valley Desert Rat, Augapfel Via | Pediatric Area / Cornell University In Peques and More | In Chile fast food restaurants are sued for including toys next to the menu
