6533b855fe1ef96bd12b19c3

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Pleasure of eating: a lever for the adoption of healthy eating in children

subject

description

Childhood obesity, despite a recent stabilization, is still a matter of concerns in the European region and elsewhere (WHO, 2017), i.e. in France (where it concerned 17% of 3-14 y-old children in 2015; INCA3). Since many years, public health campaigns have encouraged healthy eating in many countries over the world, in particular by highlighting the beneficial effect on health of some food groups (e.g., in France “For your health, eat five fruits and vegetables a day”). However, the WHO noted in 2017 that among adolescents, “daily consumption of fruit and vegetables increased slightly between 2002 and 2014, but overall prevalence remains low ; and daily consumption of sugary soft drinks and sweets decreased noticeably between 2002 and 2014, but consumption remains high ». Clearly, there is a need for new approaches to promote healthy eating in children, with sustainable effects. Here, we propose to use pleasure from eating as a lever to encourage healthy eating. Eating is a behavior essential to survival that has to take place several times per day. It is highly driven by the search for pleasure and reinforced by pleasure. Pleasure has to be acknowledged in public health campaigns, because of its central role in orienting behavior. We propose to conceptualize pleasure of eating according to three dimensions, (1) pleasure from sensory sensations during food consumption, (2) pleasure from the social context of food consumption, and (3) pleasure from cognitive representations of food. This should help to overcome challenges, such as the dilemma of nutrition versus pleasure, by putting forward the pleasure of eating healthy foods, and not only the health benefits. Valorizing the pleasure from eating healthy foods together may increase children's choice of healthy foods. Finally promoting the enjoyment of healthy eating might help to limit the consumption of energy-dense foods. We will develop examples to show the effects of such approaches, as well as their limits.