Un estudio reciente publicado en el Arch. of Pediatric & Adolesc Medicine, evaluó el efecto de la publicidad en alimentos, en niños de edad preescolar, y su elección posterior de alimentos. Esto tiene una gran importancia al evaluar el impacto futuro en cualquier forma de patología del comportamiento alimentario.
El estudio encontró que la publicidad, la presentación, el envoltorio, etc, influian decididamente no solo en la elección y valoración el alimento sino en la valoración calidad gustativa (A, “más rico” que B).
El foco fue puesto en el impacto de las comidas rápidas en niños de hogares de bajos recursos en EEUU. Las consecuencias sobre la epidemia de obesidad infantojuvenil son también evaluadas.

El artículo original en:
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med—Effects of Fast Food Branding on Young Children’s Taste Preferences, August 2007, Robinson et al. 161 (8): 792

Effects of Fast Food Branding on Young Children’s Taste Preferences
Thomas N. Robinson, MD, MPH; Dina L. G. Borzekowski, EdD; Donna M. Matheson, PhD; Helena C. Kraemer, PhD

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“Objective To examine the effects of cumulative, real-world marketing and brand exposures on young children by testing the influence of branding from a heavily marketed source on taste preferences.

Design Experimental study. Children tasted 5 pairs of identical foods and beverages in packaging from McDonald’s and matched but unbranded packaging and were asked to indicate if they tasted the same or if one tasted better.

Setting Preschools for low-income children.

Participants Sixty-three children (mean ± SD age, 4.6 ± 0.5 years; range, 3.5-5.4 years).

Main Exposure Branding of fast foods.

Outcome Measures A summary total taste preference score (ranging from –1 for the unbranded samples to 0 for no preference and +1 for McDonald’s branded samples) was used to test the null hypothesis that children would express no preference.
Results The mean ± SD total taste preference score across all food comparisons was 0.37 ± 0.45 (median, 0.20; interquartile range, 0.00-0.80) and significantly greater than zero (P<.001), indicating that children preferred the tastes of foods and drinks if they thought they were from McDonald’s. Moderator analysis found significantly greater effects of branding among children with more television sets in their homes and children who ate food from McDonald’s more often.

Conclusion Branding of foods and beverages influences young children’s taste perceptions. The findings are consistent with recommendations to regulate marketing to young children and also suggest that branding may be a useful strategy for improving young children’s eating behaviors.