Watching healthy cooking programs increases children's chances of eating healthy food

The effect of watching healthy cooking programs on children

While exposure to fast food television commercials is often associated with unhealthy eating habits in children, new research has found that television programs featuring healthy foods can inspire children to make healthy food choices now and to adulthood, 2.7 times the choice of healthy food from Children who watched a different episode of the same show offering unhealthy food.

The study, published in the journal "Nutrition Education and Behavior", found that children who watched a cooking show for children offering healthy food were 2.7 times more likely to choose healthy food than other children who preferred to watch programs offering unhealthy foods.

The results of this study indicate that cooking programs can be a promising tool to encourage positive changes in children's preferences, attitudes, and behaviors.

For the study, the researchers asked 125 children aged 10 to 12 years old in 5 schools in the Netherlands to watch 10 minutes of the healthy cooking program on Dutch public television, then offered them a snack as a reward for their participation.

The result was that children watching the health program were more likely to choose one of the healthy snacks "an apple or a few pieces of cucumber" from one of the unhealthy options "potato chips or a handful of small savory pastries".

Previous research has also revealed that young people are more likely to eat nutrient-dense foods, including fruits and vegetables if they are already involved in preparing a healthy meal, but recent dependence on of prepared foods and the lack of models for parents to prepare fresh foods have led to a decrease in cooking skills among children.

However, exposure to healthy choices can be affected by children, who are strongly influenced by personality traits. For example, children who do not like new foods are less likely to show a stronger desire to make healthy choices, after watching a television program that displays healthy food, more than a child who likes to try new foods.

As they got older, they began to feel more responsible for their eating habits and could withdraw the information they learned when they were children, and researchers believe this may indicate that watching programs that have healthy options can have a positive impact on children's behavior, even if it is delayed by age.