Kids eat veggies if they don't know they are healthy

Trying to get kids to eat healthier? Don't tell them veggies are good for them. When children hear about the benefits of healthy food, they are less likely to eat it, a new study has found.

Trying to get kids to eat healthier? Don't tell them veggies are good for them. When children hear about the benefits of healthy food, they are less likely to eat it, a new study has found.

"We predicted that when food is presented to children as making them strong or as a tool to achieve a goal such as learning how to read or count, they would conclude the food is not as tasty and therefore consume less of it," researchers said.

To test this idea, the authors Michal Maimaran from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and Ayelet Fishbach from University of Chicago Booth School of Business) conducted five studies with children between the ages of three and five.

In all of the studies, the children were read a picture book story about a girl who ate a snack of crackers or carrots.

The children ate more when they did not receive any message about the foods making them strong or helping them learn how to count. Brands marketing food items to parents and children can use these results to de-emphasise the benefits of healthy food and focus more on the positive experience of eating the food, researchers said.

"Parents and caregivers who are struggling to get children to eat healthier may be better off simply serving the food without saying anything about it, or (if credible) emphasising how yummy the food actually is," the authors concluded.

The study was published in the Journal of Consumer Research.