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Can Biology Help Children Eat Their Veggies? Testing the Effects of Sensory Appeals of Healthy Foods on Information Processing

Sat, May 26, 9:30 to 10:45, Hilton Old Town, Floor: M, Mozart I

Abstract

Obesity is a global health problem, increasingly prevalent among youngsters. Traditional interventions, trying to decrease obesity, aim at fostering inhibitory responses towards unhealthy eating or at increasing healthy eating through utilitarian, rational interventions – none of these being successful. These approaches are especially ineffective for youngsters, whose heightened excitatory and low inhibitory responsiveness predispose them towards sensory appeals. Biological and psychological frameworks guide predictions about the effects of sensory appeals, such as the taste-related enjoyment of foods -- portrayed through hedonic appeals -- and appetite-related visual cues reflecting food quality -- portrayed through palatability appeals. The findings of this study reveal that healthy foods – when portrayed as flavorful, enjoyable and exciting, through taste-related hedonic appeals– became noticeable stimuli activating the consumatory and nurturant appetitive motivational system. The color saturation of food – indicating food freshness and ripeness – is also capable of activating the appetitive motivational system. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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