Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Pediatrics. 2010 Jul;126(1):88-93. doi: 10.1542/peds.2009-3433. Epub 2010 Jun 21.
The goal was to study how popular licensed cartoon characters appearing on food packaging affect young children's taste and snack preferences.
Forty 4- to 6-year-old children tasted 3 pairs of identical foods (graham crackers, gummy fruit snacks, and carrots) presented in packages either with or without a popular cartoon character. Children tasted both food items in each pair and indicated whether the 2 foods tasted the same or one tasted better. Children then selected which of the food items they would prefer to eat for a snack.
Children significantly preferred the taste of foods that had popular cartoon characters on the packaging, compared with the same foods without characters. The majority of children selected the food sample with a licensed character on it for their snack, but the effects were weaker for carrots than for gummy fruit snacks and graham crackers.
Branding food packages with licensed characters substantially influences young children's taste preferences and snack selection and does so most strongly for energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods. These findings suggest that the use of licensed characters to advertise junk food to children should be restricted.
研究食品包装上出现的广受欢迎的授权卡通形象如何影响幼儿的口味和零食偏好。
40 名 4 至 6 岁的儿童品尝了 3 对相同的食物（全麦饼干、果味软糖和胡萝卜），这些食物分别装在有或没有广受欢迎的卡通形象的包装中。儿童品尝了每对食物中的两种，并指出两种食物的味道是否相同或一种味道更好。然后，孩子们选择他们更愿意作为零食吃的食物。
与没有卡通形象的相同食物相比，儿童明显更喜欢包装上有受欢迎卡通形象的食物的味道。与没有卡通形象的食物相比，大多数孩子选择了有授权卡通形象的食物作为零食，但胡萝卜的效果比果味软糖和全麦饼干弱。
用授权卡通形象为食品包装做品牌宣传极大地影响了幼儿的口味偏好和零食选择，对高热量、低营养的食物影响最大。这些发现表明，应该限制使用授权卡通形象向儿童推销垃圾食品。
