Brian Wansink, PhD from Cornell focuses his research on what drives people to make food choices. In a recent study he looked at 6 to 8 year old kids eating at a fast food restaurant. The children were given either apples slices or French fries with their meal. For one group French fries were the default choice and you had to request a switch to apple slices. No surprise, only a very few children took the apples slices. The second group got apple slices as the default choice and had to request French fries instead. Sadly, again, most of the kids wanted and requested French fries.
Dr. Wansink believes that this shows that default choices are very binary. They set up an either-or situation, a take-it-or-leave-it choice. The child has to eat either the healthy or unhealthy choice. When faced with this scenario the favorite choice, French fries wins. Wansink suggests offering both options. , a small portion of French fries plus apple slices. Though this may not be the best solution, the compromise would get most kids to eat apple slices, whereas the either-or choice does not. As a parent, you might suggest splitting a small French fry order with your child. Or order a medium-sized order for the family to share.
