Healthy food: wrap it in fast food trappings
PRESCHOOLERS will eat a carrot stick if it comes in a McDonald's wrapper - a finding that will ring true with frustrated parents.
A study, published in the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine yesterday, found that children as young as three preferred to eat foods they believed to be from McDonald's - even if those foods, such as a serve of vegetables, were not part of the fast-food giant's menu.
Researchers tested 63 preschoolers from low-income families in California. The children were each given two identical samples of three foods from McDonald's, one in branded wrappers and the other in identical packaging bearing no brand. They were also given milk and carrots.
About 77 per cent of children said they preferred the taste of the french fries in the McDonald's bag, while only 13.3 per cent favoured the fries in the plain bag. Only 10 per cent said they thought the two offerings tasted the same.
When the chicken nuggets were served, 59 per cent said they preferred the taste of those in the McDonald's branded box, while 18 per cent thought the plainly wrapped nuggets tasted better.
In a strange twist, 54.1 per cent of the children said baby carrots served on top of a paper bag bearing the McDonald's logo tasted better than those on a plain bag (23 per cent) - even though McDonald's does not have carrots on its menu.
But the results "are not rocket science", says Dr Jenny O'Dea, the associate professor of nutrition at the University of Sydney. "You can get a child to eat anything if you present it in the right way," she said. "If the food is fun and interactive then children will eat it - it's simple child psychology and basic marketing." Dr O'Dea said companies such as McDonald's were successful because they understood that children loved food which appealed to their senses.
But the Coalition on Food Advertising to Children said the study proved children were being bombarded with advertising. "It just shows how the messages from TV really do sink in with children," the coalition's chairwoman, Kathy Chapman, said. "TV is such a powerful medium and I hope this study compels the major food manufacturers to be more aware of their responsibilities."
For Bridget Roberts, of Dulwich Hill, a trip to McDonald's is an occasional treat for her daughter Elizabeth, 4, and her siblings.
"Elizabeth has quite a healthy diet, but she certainly gets excited when she sees foods bearing children's characters," Mrs Roberts said. "I just wish they would market vegetables in the same way."