By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Cartoon Characters Impact Kids’ Cereal Preferences
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Public Health > Cartoon Characters Impact Kids’ Cereal Preferences
Public Health

Cartoon Characters Impact Kids’ Cereal Preferences

GlennLaffel
GlennLaffel
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

Based on their experience during countless schleps to the market, moms know that kids pick cereals whose boxes have cartoon characters on them. Previous research by Yale scientists explained the phenomenon: kids say that the stuff poured from such boxes tastes better than the same stuff when poured from a cartoon-less box. The same thing happens when kids pick graham crackers, carrots and gummy fruit snacks.

Pictures of Shrek, Dora the Explorer, Scooby Doo and their kin make just about anything taste yummier, it seems.

Can this observation be leveraged to encourage kids to select healthier foods? Yes, it turns out. But the story isn’t as straightforward as you’d think.

To study the impact of licensed media spokescharacters and other nutrition cues on kids’ taste assessment of food products, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania fed cereal from a box that had been labeled either “Sugar Bits” or “Healthy Bits” to 80 kids. Half the boxes in each “brand category” were adorned with cute cartoon penguins, while the other half were not. The kids were between 4 and 6 years old.

More Read

Choosing a Provider, Ethics, and Playing Darts Blindfolded
Partnering Patients and Providers for Healthcare Technology Innovation
Jumping into Health Care Social Media
Patient Recovery: A Solution to Improve Healthcare
How Exercise Can Help Those Who Are Terminally Ill

The scientists then asked the kids to rate the taste of the cereals on a 1 to 5 smiley face scale. Surprisingly, kids loved the Healthy Bits, which scored 4.5 regardless of whether the penguin was present or not. However, the penguins had a marked impact on kids’ taste preferences for Sugar Bits. For this brand, the taste score sans penguins was below 3, whereas it was over 4 if the cereal was delivered from a box featuring the friendly penguins.

Lead author Matthew Lapierre didn’t know for sure why this happened. “One of the explanations we’ve been working with is that kids grow up with this negative association with sugar,” he reasoned in an interview.

To support his hypothesis, Lapierre noted that many cereal brands have replaced the word “sugar” with other words that imply a somewhat healthier message. Sugar Smacks are now called Honey Smacks, for example. Sugar Crisps are now sold as Golden Crisps.

If Lapierre is right, then these healthier messages have been internalized by kids to the point that they have negative perceptions of the word ‘sugar’ in the faux brand created by his group.

Then again, a smiling cartoon penguin is all it took to boost the kids’ favorability ratings to match those of Healthy Bits. The penguin trumps the healthy message in the minds of kids.

Lapierre’s group concluded that “not only do appealing … characters manipulate young children’s subjective judgments, the resulting heightened preference for food products featuring these characters is likely to contribute to unhealthy eating habits.”

Expect consumer groups to demand an all-out ban on Tony the Tiger any day now! The write-up appears in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

TAGGED:kidspublic health
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

a woman walking on the hallway
6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
Health
September 9, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
Global Healthcare
September 9, 2025
travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025

You Might also Like

Public Health

Use It or Lose It: The Price of Inactivity

March 26, 2012

Medicaid to Fund ‘Stay-Healthy’ Incentive Programs

April 7, 2011

Extending the Frontiers: Working Despite Alzheimer’s and Campus Smoking Bans

September 1, 2011
Ribs on BBQ
NewsPublic HealthWellness

Meat and Mortality: Does Eating Meat Decrease Your Lifespan?

March 10, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?