Can virtual fruit get kids eating the real thing?

Researchers try marketing healthy foods in the same way unhealthy foods are promoted

Unhealthy foods are marketed to kids wherever kids can be found, and since kids spend a lot of time on screens, marketing messages permeate their online destinations, including games, shows and social media. This creates a virtual food environment of tempting processed foods full of sugar, fat and salt, that fuels real world unhealthy eating and obesity. 

Eating habits established at a young age tend to stick, that’s why it’s so important to build good ones. That – and kids’ susceptibility to entertaining advertisements and games’ hidden messaging – is why marketers target young audiences. There are many studies that show that advergames that promote unhealthy foods make kids fond of the brands behind the games, and lead to consumption and appetite for sweet and salty junk foods.

For that reason, public health advocates call for stricter regulation of marketing of junk foods.  

Can we also fight fire with fire? Can the same marketing techniques be used to make kids reach for apples and carrots?

Digitally marketing fruit 

A new study in the journal Appetite examines whether playing a fruit advergame affects fruit intake. 123 kids played games that featured either fruit (whole fruit, fruit drinks or cups of fruit), toys, or no game at all. The games integrated advertising features such as sounds, timers, and brand logo visuals. After playing, the kids were seated at a table with bowls of pieces of fruit, and the same logos as in the advergame they played.

The researchers expected fruit intake to rise after playing the fruit game, but that did not happen – the electronic fruit game did not lead kids to eat more fruit.

Not all studies show this disappointing result. Another study in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine that had kids playing a Pacman-style advergame with healthy or a less healthy snack showed that the healthy advergame promoted the healthy snack much the same as it “sold” the junk food.

But if the same methods that promote junk food don’t apply to healthy ones what would explain that?

The authors suggest that our brain is much more sensitive to highly palatable and energy dense foods – they’re evolutionarily conditioned to push the buttons that move us to consume calories in preparation for the next famine. Low-calorie foods just don’t have as much of an effect. Unhealthy calorie-rich food that’s designed to taste good has an unfair advantage. 

The other factor, they suggest, is that the cumulative effect of years of priming and branding of unhealthy foods stimulates junk-food intake in a way that a short term game doesn’t. Food companies spend about $14 billion a year on ads, with more than 80 percent of that marketing budget promoting fast foods, sugary drinks and unhealthy processed foods. 

Another worry is that there’s evidence that exposure to advergames promoting unhealthy foods leads to a generalized increase in appetite and caloric intake, regardless of what’s promoted. Seeing so much food in our digital worlds is enough to cause craving and overeating.

Playing with fruit in real life

Playing with food virtually may not lead to better eating habits, but handling real food may very well do the trick.

Involving kids in food preparation not only teaches them valuable life skills, it’s also proven to increase their intake of fruits and vegetables. Involving kids in growing and preparing vegetables — through garden-based programs improves veggie consumption. The more kids handle a food the more likely they’ll grow fond of it.

And what works even better, according to the scientific literature, is setting an example. Eat nutritious food, show genuine excitement for healthy and delicious fruits and healthy dishes, and kids will likely adopt your habits eventually.

Dr. Ayala