Kids 'prefer fast-food wrapping'

[Heracles 417]

Jill Stark

August 7, 2007 - 6:00AM

The study found that the more televisions there were in a preschooler's home, the more likely they were to prefer foods and drinks from McDonald's.

Junk-food advertising's influence on young children has been confirmed by research revealing vegetables taste better to preschoolers if served in McDonald's wrappers.

In a study prompting renewed calls for restrictions on fast-food marketing, four out of five children preferred hamburgers, chicken nuggets, fries, milk and even baby carrots served in McDonald's packaging, over identical food in plain wrappers.

Childhood obesity experts said the results of 300 individual tasting comparisons, with 63 children aged three to five, were alarming.

Seventy-seven per cent preferred fries served on a wrapper with the golden arches logo, compared with 13 per cent who liked them better in plain packaging.

Chicken nuggets in a bag branded with the logo were favoured by 59 per cent while more than half (54 per cent) thought baby carrots in a branded french fries bag tasted better than in a plain bag.

Forty-eight per cent liked the hamburger with the fast food company's logo compared with 37 per cent who preferred it in a plain wrapper. Even milk tasted better, with 61 per cent preferring it in a McDonald's cup.

The study found that the more televisions there were in a preschooler's home, the more likely they were to prefer foods and drinks from McDonald's.

The results from the Stanford University (California) research, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, come a week after federal Labor's health spokeswoman, Nicola Roxon, revealed a Kevin Rudd government would ban the use of licensed characters such as Shrek to market junk food to children.

Obesity Policy Coalition spokesman Craig Sinclair said the study strengthened the need for restrictions. "It's a real concern when kids at such a young age are creating a perception in their own minds based on advertising," he said.

McDonald's spokeswoman Christine Mullen said they used Shrek to advertise their Pasta Zoo Happy Meal, which has less fat and more calcium and protein than other options.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/kid...6252630072.html

[randolady 1]

Maybe they just like the colors! Who wouldn't prefer something in a fun package as compared to a boring plain white one? They should have tried food wrapped in McDonalds wrappers, then pretty non-advertisey wrappers, then plain wrappers.

Their methods are flawed, but the conclusions are obvious: wow, kids absorb advertisements. Who would have guessed?

[Heracles 417]

McDonalds is like nicotine for kids. Well it was for me..

Still love a Big Mac.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Sounds like liberal drivel.

[Kajikit 65]

Maybe they just like the colors! Who wouldn't prefer something in a fun package as compared to a boring plain white one? They should have tried food wrapped in McDonalds wrappers, then pretty non-advertisey wrappers, then plain wrappers.

Their methods are flawed, but the conclusions are obvious: wow, kids absorb advertisements. Who would have guessed?

Exactly... everyone knows that toddlers are drawn to bright primary colours because they catch their eye - they don't have to know that the wrapper is from McDonalds to see that it's 'oooh, pretty!' What a waste of time and money that research was... if they really wanted to do a comparison they should have offered them food in packages with the logo on them, vs foods in a generic but brightly-coloured box...

[Jenn! 918]

I bet the results would be similar if they did the study on adults.