Cereal with cartoons on the box tastes better to kids: study

[Guest guest]

Cereal with cartoons on the box tastes better to kids: study

BY Kathleen Lucadamo

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, March 7th 2011, 4:28 PM

Children ages 4 to 6 who ate cereal from a box with pictures of dancing penguins

plastered across the front said they enjoyed it more than those who ate the same

item from a no-frills box.

Sancya/AP

Children ages 4 to 6 who ate cereal from a box with pictures of dancing penguins

plastered across the front said they enjoyed it more than those who ate the same

item from a no-frills box.

Cereal companies know that putting a cartoon character on the box makes it more

appealing to kids.

Now a new study suggests the child-friendly figures make the cereal taste

better, too.

Children ages 4 to 6 who ate cereal from a box with pictures of dancing penguins

plastered across the front said they enjoyed it more than those who ate the same

item from a no-frills box, the researchers reported Monday.

" The results of this experiment provide evidence that the use of popular

characters on food products affects children's taste, " the authors wrote in the

Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

The study surveyed 80 youngsters, feeding them the same cereal from different

boxes.

In one experiment, one was labeled Healthy Bits and one Sugar Bits. The kids

liked the Sugar Bits more, and the researchers think that's because they're

often told sugar is bad for them.

Freudenberg, a public health professor at Hunter College, wasn't

surprised by the study's findings.

" The use of these cartoon characters influences children's judgement and they

don't have the experience to discount advertising, " he said.

" It's really a way food companies bypass parents through advertising

Read more:

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2011/03/07/2011-03-07_cereal_with_ca\

rtoons_on_the_box_tastes_better_to_kids_study.html#ixzz1G5bRq2b7