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Fun names can turn students into vegetable lovers
The French taught us that people eat with their eyes. New research is also showing what many restaurants have known for years—we also eat with our ears.
A Cornell University study shows that giving vegetables catchy new names—like X-Ray Vision Carrots—prompted preschoolers to eat nearly twice as much as when they were simply served carrots.
And there’s more. The study of 186 four-year olds also showed the influence of these names might persist. Children continued to eat about 50% more carrots even on the days when they were no longer labeled X-Ray Vision Carrots. It shows that our taste buds are biased by our imagination. If you expect a food to taste good, it will.
“Cool names can make for cool foods,” says Brian Wansink, lead author of the study that was presented in March at the School Nutrition Association in Washington, D.C. “Whether it be ‘power peas’ or ‘dinosaur broccoli trees,’ giving a food a fun name makes kids think it will be more fun to eat.”
Similar results have been found with adults in restaurants, which is why menus will often call a chocolate cake a Bavarian Black Forest Chocolate Cake. Diners say that descriptive foods are tastier and more appealing than identical foods with generic names.
Researchers believe the naming tricks will work with older children, too, so remember this when trying to figure out how to get your students to eat more fruits and vegetables.
Have you taken a look at your school lunch menu lately? Rather than just calling the entrée a fish filet, see how it works when it’s called a “Succulent Italian Seafood Filet.”
More details on the study are available at www.SmarterLunchrooms.org.
Source: Medical News Today
