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Shaping Children’s Healthy Eating Habits With Food Placements in Movies? An Experimental Investigation

Mon, May 29, 11:00 to 12:15, Hilton San Diego Bayfront, Floor: 2, Indigo Ballroom H

Abstract

Research on media induced food choices of children has not sufficiently investigated whether food placements of healthy products can strengthen healthy food choices. Furthermore, we lack knowledge about the moderating role of children’s individual characteristics such as BMI or parental food-related mediation. The current study combines data from an experiment involving children with a survey of their parents. We exposed children to a movie either containing no food placements, mandarins, or fruit gums. Afterwards, food consumption was measured by giving children the option to choose between fruit gums or mandarins. Children in the two food placement conditions showed stronger preference for the unhealthy snack compared to the control group. Interestingly, compared to children with a lower BMI, children with higher BMI levels had a stronger disposition to choose the candy if a healthy food placement was present. Also, neither restrictive nor active food-related mediation prevented the effects of food placements.

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