They’ll never know.
We all know how hard it can be to get a child to eat vegetables, but some research shows that dinner table tantrums could be a thing of the past if you just use a little, ahem, ‘creative advertising’ when it comes to the veggies that you serve.
According to a study from the US, giving vegetables more exciting and attractive names can actually influence children to eat more of them. Yes, you read that right. This means that instead of knocking a plate of cauliflower to the floor, your child is likely to polish it off and ask for more.
We know, it definitely seems too good to be true, but hear us out.
In the study, researchers at Cornell University in New York, decided to transform boring old normal carrots into ‘X-ray Vision Carrots.’
147 school students took part in an experiment which saw lunch room menus serve the carrots on three consecutive days. On the first and last day, the carrots were known as ‘carrots.’ On the second day, the carrots were served as ‘X-ray Vision Carrots.’
Unsurprisingly, when the carrots were given the title of ‘X-ray Vision Carrots’ 66 per cent of them were eaten, whereas when they were just called ‘carrots’ only 35 per cent were eaten.
The study found that using attractive, fun names for healthy foods actually encourages children to choose them over unhealthier options and eat them, rather than leaving them on the plate.
So the next time your youngster is turning up their nose at the broccoli in front of them, simply remove the plate and return a few minutes later with some ‘Power Punch Broccoli’ or some ‘Super Strength Peas’ and see what happens.
