X-ray Vision Carrots Shift Kid’s Eating Habits
Monday, September 17th, 2012
In a recent study of how labels effect school children’s food choices researchers found:
“that by naming plain old carrots “X-ray vision carrots,” fully 66 percent of the carrots were eaten, far greater than the 32 percent eaten when labeled “Food of the Day” — and the 35 percent eaten when unnamed.”
Other behavior changing labels include power punch broccoli, tiny tasty tree tops and silly dilly green beans. These are names the students created.
Vegetables can be transformed into cool new foods with the right labels. New labels invoke a different set of mental models that bias our perception of the food in new ways. The effect appears robust as it works on different age groups and ethnic backgrounds over an extended period of time.
For other evidence-based suggestions on how to nudge health food choices by children check out the Smarter Lunchroom Movement.
