Marketing Nutrition
Changing Eating Habits on the Home Front: Lost Lessons from World War II Research
Recently, many programs and campaigns to change eating habits, such as the “Five Fruits and Vegetables a Day,” have met with costly and disappointing results. Why do these programs fail? The answer may lie in recently declassified WWII research. In an academic article published in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, researchers examine the challenges associated with changing peoples’ eating habits. Due to numerous food shortages during World War II, there were efforts to increase the use of readily available foods like organ meats. The researchers found that when food appears on the table the family usually eats it despite their own preferences. The mother was the gatekeeper for the family’s food needs. She played a central role in developing and regulating the family’s dietary needs and preferences. Programs and campaigns designed to encourage the adoption of new foods need not waste time trying to convince the whole family, when the gatekeeper controls the majority of the family’s dietary needs. When your mother told you to “eat all your vegetables,” who knew she was acting as the nutritional “gatekeeper” for the family? In addition, researchers found that an “all or nothing” approach was not successful for introducing unfamiliar foods to the diet. Rather by gradually introducing new foods into the diet, the foods became more acceptable. By adding new foods, like fruits and vegetables, into the rotation with familiar foods, a gradual acclimation occurs. Suggesting that if mom gradually adds brussel sprouts to an occasional meal, the family is more likely to accept them, rather than if mom adds them to all of the family’s meals. These basic insights from 60 years ago can help structure successful healthy eating programs today.
For more information see Wansink, Brian (2002), "Changing Eating Habits on the Home Front: Lost Lessons from World War II Research," Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 21:1 (Spring), 90–99. Acknowledgement: Reprinted with permission from Journal of Marketing, published by the American Marketing Association www.marketingpower.com/content1053.php.
Contact:
Brian Wansink, PhD
Food and Brand Lab, Director
110 Warren Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Email: foodandbrandlab@cornell.edu
*The study was conducted at the University of Illinois, former location of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.
