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The UConn Rudd Center just released a study today in the Journal of Obesity, looking at how healthier snacks that are “smart-snack” approved, can change the attitude about the food brand and confuse parents and children when shopping for healthier snack options.
The study examines how parents and children rated look-alike snacks in taste, healthfulness, and purchase intent. Smart Snacks were considered healthier, but less tasty, however, many parents and kids believed they had seen similar products for sale in stores.
This can be a challenge for parents looking for the healthier options in stores, believing that the “copycat” or “look-alike” versions of junk food are in fact, approved by Smart Snack regulations set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2013.
Schools are encouraged to sell only Smart Snack standard foods like fruit, nuts, and yogurts, but brands have also made “healthier” versions of foods to meet the standards to be sold in schools as smart snacks, making it hard for parents and kids alike to differentiate between healthier branding of similar products.
Parents already have limited time and resources to shop and determine what is a healthy snack product that their child will enjoy. Making sure healthier foods that are easy to spot in stores and schools, can help make the healthy choice the easy choice for all kids and parents.
To learn more about this study, check out the fact sheet from the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.
By The Numbers
84
percent
of Latino parents support public funding for afterschool programs
