Overview
The aim of this subproject was to interview preschoolers to gather their beliefs and attitudes about food and healthy nutrition and to link these beliefs and attitudes to their media and marketing exposure, as previously measured in the umbrella parent survey. A sample of approximately 150 4- and 5-year-old children were interviewed individually, using an innovative food-choice instrument that requires children to choose photographs of foods and assemble them on “plates” representing healthy meals and preferred meals. Children’s nutritional reasoning were then gauged by asking them about the reasons behind their choices. The results of the study highlighted the associations between media/marketing exposure (and other variables in the parent survey) and children’s personal beliefs about and attitudes toward food and its role in helping them grow up healthy and strong.
Research Team
- Kristen Harrison, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Professor, Communication Studies
- Gwen Costa-Jacobsohn, Graduate Research Assistant
- Mericarmen Peralta, Project Manager
Contact:
Kristen Harrison
734-764-6718; krishar@umich.edu
Funding
- Illinois Transdiciplinary Obesity Prevention Program (I-TOPP) Seed Grant, 2011
- Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research (C-FAR) Sentinel Program Seed Grant, College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Illinois Department of Human Services, Bureau of Child Care and Development
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois
- Family Resiliency Center, University of Illinois