Although it may seem absurd, this study will give a good idea to many parents who are tired of their children leaving vegetables on the plate. A group of researchers from Cornell University (USA) has shown that, when the dish has an attractive name for children, they eat it without disgust.
The authors of the study, which is published in the journal Preventive Medicine , selected schools from different areas of New York. Over three days, they offered the students, ages 8-11, the same menu. The only detail they changed was the name of the carrot ration, which on the second day of the study was renamed "X-ray vision carrots ." The results were surprising: on that day twice as many carrots were consumed than on the rest.
In a second test, the team selected two school canteens from the same neighborhood. For the first month, the menus had standard names. However, during the second month, and only in one of the schools, "Carrots with X-ray vision" and "Broccoli Power Punch" were served, while "tasty little balls" replaced the boring peas. In the latter center, the consumption of vegetables rose to 99 percent , while in the former it was only 16 percent.
And it seems that the little ones are not the only ones who 'fall' with this trick: other studies show that adults are also more receptive when food has catchy or more attractive names.
