Americans still fall short of the recommended daily portions of fruits and vegetables. And kids are notoriously averse to veggies at the school cafeteria. So researchers tested whether visual cues of healthful foods could increase consumption at a grade school with 800 students.
美國人每日的水果和蔬菜建議攝取量仍然達不到要求。在學校食堂就餐的孩子們對蔬菜可是出了名的反感。因此,研究人員做了測試,在一個有800名學生的小學對健康食品采用視覺提示方式,看看能否促進學生們多吃蔬菜。
First the scientists determined how many kids put carrots and green beans on their trays and how much they ate. Three months later they did the same analysis. But on the second day, the trays had pictures of carrots and green beans in the trays’ compartments.
首先,科學家們確定了有多少孩子在自己的餐盤里放了胡蘿卜和青豆,同時確定了他們吃了多少胡蘿卜和青豆。三個月后,科學家做了同樣的分析。但第二天開始,科學家在餐盤上畫上胡蘿卜和青豆的圖片。
On the day with the photo cues, more than twice as many kids took green beans as on the control day, and more than three times as many kids took carrots. Average consumption per student went up as well. The study was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
餐盤畫上胡蘿卜和青豆之后的一天內,選擇食用青豆的孩子增加了兩倍多,選擇食用胡蘿卜的孩子增加了三倍多。每名學生的平均蔬菜消費量也上升了。這項研究結果發表在《美國醫學協會雜志》( The Journal of the American Medical Association)上。
The researchers note that the effect needs to be tested elsewhere for longer than two days. And the amount of veggies eaten still didn’t meet government recommendations. But if pictures of burgers can sell meaty meals, maybe fresh fruit and veggie food photos can play a part in the campaign for healthier kids.
研究人員指出,這種方式產生的效果需要在其它地方進行驗證,而且測試持續的時間應該在兩天以上。盡管如此,學生們的蔬菜攝取量仍然沒有達到政府提出的建議值。但如果漢堡圖片有助于賣出更多的肉類,那么新鮮水果和蔬菜的圖片大概也可以對“健康孩子運動”有所裨益吧。