How to counter childhood obesity : studying the effect of food anthropomorphization on children's eating behavior.

Abstract

Childhood obesity and overweight have become one of the most serious health issues in the 21st century. While obesity in children can be associated with dramatic health and social consequences, developing new ways and tools to prevent childhood obesity and overweight is much needed. Dietary intake characteristics and food choices are being part of the risk factors contributing to the development of obesity in children and adolescents. Trying to influence people’s thoughts and behaviors, such as promoting good dietary habits, is the objective of several social marketing programs. In this study, we aimed to evaluate how the humanizing of food products (i.e. the anthropomorphization of two vegetables), along with the level of familiarity with those products, can influence attitudes and behaviors of children, such as the attitude toward the ad and the purchase intention. With this aim, we designed a well-controlled school-based study with a 7 to 12-year-old children-targeted questionnaire. While children clearly showed a better knowledge and preference of one vegetable over the other, our study highlighted that attitudes and behaviors of children are influenced by the level of familiarity with these products. On the other hand, although the vegetables’ anthropomorphization was well perceived by children, only low or moderate effects of food humanizing have been observed. However, this study opens the door for further investigation and research, including food anthropomorphization, in order to develop the best intervention strategies, also targeting parental behavior and physical activity, and thereby significantly improve the prevention of childhood obesity.