Healthy food? Don’t tell the kids!
A recent poll shows most kids think they are healthy eaters and aren’t sure what to make of all the fuss over America’s expanding waistline. But don’t try to call a meal or a snack nutritious or healthy; kids are sure to think it will taste, well, yucky.
Kids also think that the only meal Mom has control over is dinner and that other eating occasions are a “free-for-all,” according to a survey conducted jointly by youth and family marketing agency Strottman International and market research firm E-Poll. Breakfast is the least healthy meal of the day for kids (only 5% eat something healthy). Choices can go further downhill by midday. “Moms take great care in trying to pack a nutritious lunch, but all kinds of things happen between the front door and the school yard,” says Tom Wong, senior VP-strategic insights and entertainment marketing at Irvine, CA-based Strottman.
But Mom is by far the primary food influencer, and what she preaches appears to be sinking in.
Friends were low on the list of people kids would talk to about healthy foods. They’re not likely to compare notes on whether broccoli tastes better in its natural state or dressed up a bit with a low-fat dip.
Kids do care about a healthy diet, at least in one regard: performance. They want foods that will impact their sports abilities, appearance and intellect. They believe they may not feel well or perform at 100% capacity if they are not making healthy food choices. Eighty-four percent of the kids surveyed think that eating nutritious foods gives them lots of vitamins (84%), makes them smarter (72%), helps them think (71%), helps them do well in school (70%) and helps them excel in sports (65%).
The survey queried 500 children ages eight to 12 in November 2003.
