It\u2019s not that you shouldn\u2019t have ice cream in books, but people should be aware of what the underlying message is. — Jane Goldman<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The study \u2013 conducted by Jane Goldman, professor emerita in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, and Lara Descartes, a former assistant professor with the department and now a professor of Family Studies at Brescia University College in Canada \u2013 found that while the ratio of healthy to unhealthy foods depicted in books is higher than it is on television, books more often link positive events and concepts \u2013 such as love and nurturing \u2013 to treats, such as ice cream and baked goods, rather than fruits or vegetables.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not that you shouldn\u2019t have ice cream in books, but people should be aware of what the underlying message is,\u201d says Goldman. \u201cWhat are the messages children are getting about foods when a picture book is read to them, and are those messages related to the obesity epidemic among children?\u201d<\/p>\n The findings were first published in 2016 in the journal Appetite <\/em><\/a>and were the focus of presentations by Goldman and Descartes in September at the University of California at Irvine and a global conference on food in the United Kingdom. They evaluated 100 picture book titles in Scholastic\u2019s \u201cFavorite Books for Preschoolers\u201d collection \u2013 a mix of classics and newer titles, fiction and non-fiction. Sixty-nine of the 100 books in the collection included one or more food items in the text and\/or illustrations. These books \u00a0formed the sample in the study.<\/p>\n Goldman and Descartes coded depictions of food in the books using a number of criteria.\u00a0 First they counted the number of books in which each food was represented. Using more specific criteria, they narrowed the sample to 48 books and conducted a page-by-page assessment of the context in which each food was presented. They coded the references based on the centrality of the food, in other words, how likely the representation of the food was to attract attention. Then, using characters’ expressions as a guide, they assigned a rating of positive, negative or neutral to each food reference.<\/p>\n Based on frequency alone, the depictions of healthy versus nutrient-poor foods was encouraging:<\/p>\n But a different picture emerges when \u201ccentrality\u201d and \u201caffect\u201d ratings are considered.<\/p>\n Goldman was not surprised that many of the picture books surveyed in the study portrayed sweet and comparatively unhealthy foods as very desirable or that they were associated with positive outcomes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>This is concerning, she says, because when nutrient- poor foods are presented both frequently and positively, it likely contributes to children\u2019s view of them as more desirable.\u00a0 This is especially likely given the fact that picture books are just one part of a child\u2019s total media consumption and that television content is known to promote a positive association with nutrient-poor foods.<\/p>\n The researchers say it\u2019s important to look at the context in which foods are presented as well as the frequency, observing that the people they interviewed rarely noticed that food was mentioned in children\u2019s books, nor what messages were being conveyed.<\/p>\n By being aware of the issue, parents, educators, and others have the option of emphasizing healthier food choices such as apples or carrots, in addition to the sweets, baked goods, and ice cream they are seeing, Goldman says. Secondarily, she hopes the study makes editors and writers aware of the stereotypes they may be perpetuating about sweets always being the food with which people are rewarded and made to feel good.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we hope the study\u00a0 does is make people aware of how food is presented in picture books, in the same way they have become aware of how gender roles are presented in books,\u201d Goldman says. \u201cBooks are a tool we use all the time, so how can we use books to promote healthy ideas about food. In early childhood there is an emphasis on helping children read and on healthy eating and lifestyle, so why not think about the messages in books that support or contradict that healthy lifestyle message.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A study led by a UConn researcher suggests that the way food is portrayed in picture books may be sending the wrong messages to children about healthy eating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":121671,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2225],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2021],"class_list":["post-121555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uconn-storrs"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 13:09:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121555"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121966,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121555\/revisions\/121966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/121671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121555"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=121555"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=121555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Snow](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/GettyImages-535697727-SnowWhiteWitch-1024x819.jpg\")
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