The article is written in connection with our "How Many Slices in a Loaf of Bread Calculator".
Researchers from Wageningen University in the Netherlands conducted a field experiment to see if the shape of bread rolls could influence children's choices between white and whole wheat bread.
The study, published in the journal BMC Public Health, involved 1,113 children from 12 primary schools in the Netherlands. The children were presented with an assortment of white and whole wheat bread rolls, with the shapes varying between regular and "fun" (heart, fish, hand).
"In a between-subjects experiment conducted at twelve primary schools in the Netherlands, with school as the unit of condition assignment, children were exposed to an assortment of white and whole wheat bread rolls, both varying in shape (regular versus fun)," the researchers explained.
The results showed that about 76% of the bread consumed was white. However, when the whole wheat bread rolls were presented in fun shapes, their consumption almost doubled compared to when they had regular shapes. "Consumption of whole wheat bread rolls was highest in the condition in which these bread rolls had a fun shape and there was no competition from fun-shaped white breads," the researchers found. "Consumption of whole wheat bread rolls was highest in the condition in which these bread rolls had a fun shape and there was no competition from fun-shaped white breads," the researchers found. "Presenting fun-shaped whole wheat bread rolls almost doubled consumption of whole wheat bread, particularly when the simultaneously presented white bread rolls had a regular shape," the study states.
The researchers also found that the fun shapes led to "slight increases in perceived pleasure and taste" associated with the bread. Children reported that the bread rolls "looked funny" when at least one option had a fun shape. "A fun shape of either white or whole wheat bread rolls also made it more enjoyable to choose a bread roll," the study notes.
The researchers suggest that using proven marketing techniques, like fun shapes, could be an effective way to encourage healthier eating habits in children. "Producing fun foods or marketing foods specifically at children has been criticized as irresponsible in light of the current childhood obesity problems worldwide," the study states. "However, the same underlying principle of fun can also work for the promotion of healthier foods." "It is of crucial importance to study how children's food choice might be impacted by small contextual cues," the researchers conclude. "Adapting the school food environment is increasingly seen as fundamental to help children develop healthy eating habits."
