Cartoon Food Packets Effect Kid's Choice

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By Religare

Thursday, June 24, 2010, 14:37

Cartoons are the favorite objects that kids love to be around. A recent study says, cartoon characters appearing on snack packets can influence a child"s taste buds.

This study was conducted by Yale University"s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity on 40 children, between the age group 5 to 6 years.

Researchers found that 50 percent of children reported that snack packaging with Dora the Explorer, Shrek and Scooby-Doo tasted better than snacks from plain packaging even though the same food items were put into different packages.

It was also found that when kids were given choice on the food items, two-third of kids preferred a snack with image of cartoon celebrities.

This is because cartoon characters appearing on televisions and movies effect the way kids eat. For instance, when Scooby is seen eating more sugary junk food than good healthy veggies, the child will automatically follow Scooby, said a researcher.

Thus the American Psychological Association and other organizations have called for the elimination of all marketing of such food products to children.

In the study of Federal Trade Commission data it is cited that US food and beverage companies spend more than 1.6 billion dollars per year in order to grab childrens' attention .