Released November 2, 2009

URBANA, Ill. - Can nutrition education compete with food marketing to children, our culture's tendency to celebrate with food, a biological preference for sweet, salty, and energy-dense fare, and children's fear of the new and unfamiliar?

"The answer is no--sadly, these cultural and biological influences are pervasive and powerful. But there is a solution: changing the environment so that kids don't have to work so hard to make healthy choices," said Marlene Schwartz, deputy director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University in a presentation at the Illinois Summit on Early Childhood and Healthy Beginnings.

With 26 percent of preschoolers already overweight, Schwartz feels there's no time to waste in making these changes. She referred to several studies that showed that food choices are biologically driven and often occur at an unconscious level.

In one study, rats given unlimited access to both a "supermarket diet" high in sugar, fat, and salt, and a nutritious rat chow preferred the unhealthy diet and tripled their body weight. "They didn't choose the bad diet because they felt unloved or had seen too many commercials. These choices are to a large extent biologically driven," she said.

She also cited food studies by Cornell professor Brian Wansink that showed that people eat more when food is visible--he experimented with candy in a glass versus an opaque container--and when it is easily accessible, for example, on a worker's desk rather than farther away on a printer stand.

And children eat more when portion sizes are larger, according to a Penn State study. "These studies show that we often don't make food choices in thoughtful ways," she noted.

Schwartz said that we also tend to reward achievement and celebrate with food. A Minnesota study reported that 70 percent of teachers had used candy as a reward in the classroom. And rewards for doing homework are often coupons for treats at fast-food chains, she said.

Unfortunately, most nutrition education today is done by food companies, she added. "When shoppers arrive at the grocery store, the messages are confusing. Health claims are being made for unhealthy foods."

A 2008 study showed that 54 percent of cereals are marketed directly to kids, not parents, and these products are significantly higher in calories, sodium, carbohydrates, and sugar, and lower in fiber and protein, she said.

What to do?

Create an environment in which "optimal defaults" are used, which occurs when the situation you want happens automatically. Only healthy choices are provided, and those choices should be reinforced by economics, legislation, and a change in the environment.

"It's like telling your child when it's cold, you can wear this coat or that coat, but not no coat," she said.

According to Schwartz, schools should sell only healthy foods and beverages, remove soda and junk food from the building, have nonfood celebrations, not use food as rewards, and limit portion sizes.

She cited a study in which children in a lunch line were served rather than offered fruit. When fruit was served rather than offered, 70 percent of the children ate it.

A study conducted in Connecticut preschools showed that 59 percent of the children ate less than ½ serving of fruit (36 percent ate none), and 79 percent ate less than ½ serving of vegetables (45 percent ate none). They also consumed less than 3 grams of fiber (25 grams per day is recommended). They were, however, consuming 124 percent of the daily recommended amount of saturated fat.

In these preschools, there were no policies addressing maximum serving size or how to manage second helpings (83 percent of the preschools allowed seconds of all foods and beverages), and only four teachers were trying to help the children self-regulate their food choices and attempting to limit portions.

Schwartz recommends serving fruit instead of juice (juice isn't as filling and kids don't register the calories they've consumed). Other recommendations include only allowing skim or 1 percent milk, only serving low-fat cheese, limiting sweet grains such as muffins and cereals, and using variety to promote fruits and vegetables.

"The trend toward obesity affects kids early, so we have to intervene early. And these steps will improve children's nutrition regardless of their weight status," she said.

Other speakers were University of Illinois President B. Joseph White, on "Brilliant Futures for America's Children," Barbara T. Bowman, Chief Officer of Early Childhood Education for Chicago Public Schools, on "Advances in Early Childhood Education: Does One Size Fit All?" and Arthur J. Reynolds, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, on "New Directions for Early Childhood Programs in an Age of Accountability." Podcasts and videos of the presentations will soon be available at http://www.frc.illinois.edu/Summit.

The event was hosted by the University of Illinois's Family Resiliency Center and The Pampered Chef® Programs. A list of sponsors can also be found at the summit website.

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http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news4936.html

Source: Barbara Fiese, (217) 333-9077, bhfiese@illinois.edu

Contact: Phyllis Picklesimer, (217) 244-2827, p-pickle@uiuc.edu