Impact of nutrition messages on children's food choice: pilot study.
This pilot study tested the influence of nutrition message framing on snack choice among kindergarteners. Three classrooms were randomly assigned to watch one of the following 60s videos: (a) a gain-framed nutrition message (i.e. the positive benefits of eating apples) (n=14); (b) a loss-framed message (i.e. the negative consequences of not eating apples) (n=18); or (c) a control scene (children playing a game) (n=18). Following this, the children were offered a choice between animal crackers and an apple for their snack. Among the children who saw one of the nutrition message videos, 56% chose apples rather than animal crackers; in the control condition only 33% chose apples. This difference was statistically significant (chi2=7.56, p<0.01). These results suggest that videos containing nutritional messages may have a positive influence on children's short-term food choices.
Bannon
Katie
K
Department of Psychology, Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, Yale University, P.O. Box 208205, New Haven, CT 06520-8205, USA.
Schwartz
Marlene B
MB
D053198:Child Nutrition Sciences / Q000193:education*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D027845:Malus; D010865:Pilot Projects