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How information about what is "healthy" versus "unhealthy" impacts children's consumption of otherwise identical foods.

ABSTRACT: Can brief messages about health influence children's consumption of identical foods? Across a series of studies, we manipulated children's consumption of identical foods (fruit sauces) by pairing those foods with brief messages about each food's health status. What initially appeared to be a preference for foods described as healthy among 5- to 6-year-old children (Studies 1-2) actually reflected a preference for alternatives to foods described as unhealthy (Studies 3-5), including comparison foods that were described with negative or neutral content. Although the 2 foods on each trial were identical, children consistently ate more of the alternative to a food described as unhealthy. Similar effects were observed among 8- to 9-year-old children (Study 6). These results demonstrate that children's eating behavior is affected by messages they receive from other people, including messages about health. Further, these studies reveal basic psychological mechanisms that contribute to children's choices among foods, which could lead to effective interventions in the food domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

SUBMITTER: DeJesus JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6927673 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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How information about what is "healthy" versus "unhealthy" impacts children's consumption of otherwise identical foods.

DeJesus Jasmine M JM Du Katherine M KM Shutts Kristin K Kinzler Katherine D KD

Journal of experimental psychology. General 20190411 12

Can brief messages about health influence children's consumption of identical foods? Across a series of studies, we manipulated children's consumption of identical foods (fruit sauces) by pairing those foods with brief messages about each food's health status. What initially appeared to be a preference for foods described as healthy among 5- to 6-year-old children (Studies 1-2) actually reflected a preference for alternatives to foods described as unhealthy (Studies 3-5), including comparison fo ...[more]

PMID: 30973249

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Relative prices of healthy/unhealthy foods have been implicated in the obesity epidemic, but never extensively quantified across countries or empirically linked to undernutrition. OBJECTIVES:This study compared relative caloric prices (RCPs) for different food categories across 176 countries and ascertained their associations with dietary indicators and nutrition outcomes. METHODS:We converted prices for 657 standardized food products from the 2011 International Comparison Program into caloric prices using USDA Food Composition tables. We classified products into 21 specific food groups. We constructed RCPs as the ratio of the 3 cheapest products in each food group, relative to the weighted cost of a basket of starchy staples. We analyzed RCP differences across World Bank income levels and regions and used cross-country regressions to explore associations with Demographic Health Survey dietary indicators for women 15-49 y old and children 12-23 mo old and with WHO indicators of the under-5 stunting prevalence and adult overweight prevalence. RESULTS:Most noncereal foods were relatively cheap in high-income countries, including sugar- and fat-rich foods. In lower-income countries, healthy foods were generally expensive, especially most animal-sourced foods and fortified infant cereals (FICs). Higher RCPs for a food predict lower consumption among children for 7 of 9 food groups. Higher milk and FIC prices were positively associated with international child stunting patterns: a 1-SD increase in milk prices was associated with a 2.8 percentage point increase in the stunting prevalence. Similarly, a 1-SD increase in soft drink prices was associated with a reduction in the overweight prevalence of ∼3.6 percentage points. CONCLUSIONS:Relative food prices vary systematically across countries and partially explain international differences in the prevalences of undernutrition and overweight adults. Future research should focus on how to alter relative prices to achieve better dietary and nutrition outcomes.

Dataset Information

How information about what is "healthy" versus "unhealthy" impacts children's consumption of otherwise identical foods.

Publications

How information about what is "healthy" versus "unhealthy" impacts children's consumption of otherwise identical foods.

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