Communication of healthy foods toward pre-adolescent children. Valérie Lengard Almli

Transcription

1 Communication of healthy foods toward pre-adolescent children Valérie Lengard Almli How do we effectively communicate which foods are healthy? CAS workshop, February 2014

2 Outline Barriers to a healthy diet among children Some possible strategies 1. Teaching program to schoolchildren 2. Exposure to new foods 3. Marketing healthier alternatives toward children Conclusions

3 Children and healthy diets Some barriers to eating healthy: ADULTS Senses stronger than mind Difficult to change consumption habits CHILDREN Senses stronger than parental advice No concern about health Food neophobia Strategies for eating healthy: 1. a better knowledge of food products Better enjoyment around food and cooking pleasure of eating varied foods 2. eating more varied foods covers nutritional needs pleasure of eating Basis for life-long healthy eating habits 3. eating foods with less sugar, fat and additives

4 1. Teaching food enjoyment at Geitmyra Culinary Center for Children Non-profit organisation 18 th century small farm in the middle of Oslo Teach children about food, cooking and gardening Invite kindergartens, school children and families for various courses 5-day program for 6 th graders Foto: Geitmyra Goals: raise children s curiosity, enthusiasm and feeling of achievement through preparation of tasty meals Foto: Geitmyra

5 Study 1: Effects of Geitmyra s teaching program Kristine Myhrer NMBU/Nofima 148 school children recruited in 2 schools 99 completed the questionnaires Intervention group (G1) Oslo, Control group (G2) Ski T0 (2-4 weeks prior to Geitmyra) T1 (last day of Geitmyra-week) T2 (4-6 weeks after Geitmyra) Intervention group (G1) n=57 X X X Control group (G2) n=42 X X Foto: Geitmyra

6 Questionnaire part 1: Attitudes to taste, healthiness and food enjoyment Smak Sunnhet Velvære Mat smaker bedre når jeg har vært med å lage den Det er viktig at jeg spiser variert mat Det er gøy å lage mat Jo mer jeg vet om maten, jo Umettet fett er bra for Det er hyggelig å spise bedre smaker den kroppen min sammen med andre Når jeg er kokken Jeg prøver å spise «5 om Jeg vil gjerne vite mest mulig bestemmer jeg hvordan dagen» av frukt og om maten jeg spiser maten skal smake grønnsaker Ferdigmat smaker bedre enn Jeg tenker ikke på hva som er Mat smaker bedre foran hjemmelaget mat sunt når jeg spiser PC en enn ved bordet Positivt Positivt Positivt Negativt

7 Questionnaire part 2: food acceptance Mussels Have you tasted mussels? How much do you like mussels? How often have you eaten mussels in the last month?

8 Questionnaire part 3: food neophobia 1 Jeg er veldig kresen når det gjelder maten jeg vil spise 2 Jeg liker mat fra forskjellige land 3 Jeg er skeptisk til ny mat 4 Jeg liker å prøve uvanlige matvarer 5 Hvis jeg kan velge i mellom ulike smaker i en matvare (for eksempel iskrem), velger jeg den smaken jeg kjenner best 6 Jeg vil smake på en matrett selv om jeg ikke vet hva som er i den 7 Den maten jeg allerede kjenner til er god nok for meg 8 Jeg er villig til å smake på all mat jeg blir tilbudt 9 Jeg er redd for å spise mat jeg aldri har smakt før 10 Jeg vil ikke smake på mat når jeg ikke vet hva det er Reverdy, C., Chesnel, F., Schlich, P., Koster, E. P. & Lange, C. (2008). Effect of sensory education on willingness to taste novel food in children. Appetite, 51 (1):

9 Effect of the teaching program on attitudes 90,0 Attitudes Intervention group (G1) * Significant change from T0 80,0 70,0 * * * * 60,0 Poengscore 50,0 40,0 G1 T0 G1 T1 G1 T2 30,0 20,0 10,0 Smak Sunnhet Velvære Totalt Holdninger Positive effect at T1 Effect disappears after a few weeks except for Healthiness

10 Liking scores on food items prepared at Geitmyra * Significant change from T0 Positive effect at T1 Effect tends to disappear after a few weeks

11 Food neophobia 90,0 Matneofobi-score (AFNS) 80,0 70,0 60,0 Poenggjennomsnitt 50,0 40,0 30,0 28,8 28,6 28,9 27,1 26,0 T0 T1 T2 20,0 10,0 0,0 G1 Gruppe G2 No effect of the teaching program on the children s food neophobia level

12 Conclusions from study 1 A teaching program shows positive effects on children s attitudes to foods and food acceptance for exposed products Attitude to healthiness was the most stable changed attitude Follow-up programs may be required to maintain the change over time The neophobia scale used (AFNS) did not detect observed changes in willingness to try new foods

13 Study 2 Exposure to new foods Alexander Nilsen UiO/Nofima Food neophobia: a barrier to food variety Children eat what they like and like what they know Repeated exposure of the same food increases familiarity and acceptance Can exposure to different foods increase children s willingness to try new foods?? Cooke, 2007; Hausner, Olsen, & Moller, 2012; Osborne & Forestell, 2012; Pliner, 1982; Williams, Paul, Pizzo, & Riegel, 2008; Maier et al (2008)

14 Food items selection Different food groups Varying in basic tastes (sensory panel) No disgusting appearance Examples: Sweets: Ginger candy, turkish delight, coconut dices Cereals: Couscous, byggris, malt beer Meat/seafood: Cocktail-salami, shrimp chips, beef jerky Dairy Chèvre, taffel cheese, gomme Fruits and vegetables: Sharon, kumquat, hummus

15 Experimental protocol Subjects: 10 year olds (5 th grade) from 2 schools Group Pre-test 7 food items Food sorting test Food Situations Questionnaire Exposure One new food a day 14 food items Post-test 1 7 food items FSQ Post-test 2 7 food items Post-test 3 7 food items Intervention (n=38) Control (n=55) Week 45 Weeks 45, 46, 47, 48 Week 48 Week 4 (2014) Week 12 (2014) Week 45 Week 49 Week 4 (2014) Week 12 (2014) Data collection Variety in prior food exposures: Food sorting test Self-assessed neophobia: Food Situations Questionnaire (FSQ) Behavioural neophobia: Willingness To Try (WTT) and acceptance of unfamiliar food items

16 Food item questionnaire Name Picture Brief description (non-sensory)

17 Food item questionnaire Prior exposure and expected liking Tasted or not, Liking, WTT in the future, basic tastes description

18 Pre-test: Did they taste the food? Intervention (I) vs. control (K) in % of participating children I_tasted K_tasted I_not tasted K_not tasted High tasting rate in both groups

19 Post-tests preliminary results Intervention group gives neutral expectations scores on unknown products learned that you have to taste to know if you like a product or not(?) No difference in number of tasted products

20 Conclusions from study 2 High tasting rate in both groups Given the right setting, one can get children to taste about anything! More to come

21 3. Marketing healthier foods toward children Usage of common marketing techniques taken from unhealthy foods to promote healthy foods: Cartoons characters who eat vegetables Packaging targeted to children smarteatingforkids.com

22 Jippi food products for children Norgesgruppen: JIPPI Healthier kids favourites, a new concept for families with children between 3 and 10 years old! Objective: help parents to get kids to eat healthy and varied, in an easy and convenient way

23 Jippi s recipe to reach out to children (and their parents) 1. Range of healthier everyday foods that already are childrens favourites no artificial sweeteners, flavor enhancers, palm oil or mechanically separated meat (MSM) keyhole labelling (70%) 2. Developped in collaboration with nutritionists and sensory scientists at Nofima 3. Taste-approved by children 4. Six cool, tough, cute characters and a virtual world with stories and games Lily Li, Max, Ida Maria, Omar, Mina og Thomas

24 Conclusions and recommendations Teaching program: short-term positive effects, robust on healthiness? Follow-up programs may be required to maintain the change over time Exposure study: Given the right setting, children can be willing to taste new foods! Recommendations for a healthy diet Teach children that food is fun and enjoyable (Geitmyra, Jippi) Involve children in food preparation (Geitmyra) Familiarise children to a large diversity of food items («adult» foods don t exist!) Make children eat healthier products without them knowing (Jippi) Make unhealthy things boring and healthy things available and fun Potato chips at the dinner table or pre-cut vegetables in front of the TV?

25 Thank you! Foto: eqology.com