BlueSky Thinking Summary

These marketing strategies that shape children's food choices can be repurposed to help them eat healthier.

Michal Maimaran, a marketing professor at Kellogg, says parents can harness insights from the world of marketing to help teach their children better ways of eating.

If a parent wants a child to develop a preference for a particular vegetable over time, for instance, they should speak less to specific, immediate choices and more to repeated exposure to such foods.

Maimaran further suggests that it is necessary to leave some self-regulation to children, allowing them at times to choose between healthy and unhealthy options in order to set up these habits for the future.

Regarding online and offline, parents should talk openly about what is happening with social media and advertising so that children can understand and critically evaluate motives behind the marketing messages.

Used together, these methods can, over time, help a parent make positive contributions to their children's eating habits.