What it means if your kid recognizes these 11 brand logos

What it means if your kid recognizes these 11 brand logos

Young children who recognize brand names and logos of junk food are at higher risk of weight gain and obesity, a recent study suggests.

In a study done by University of Michigan, researchers found an association between preschoolers’ weight and their abilities to match logos with the type of food it represents. They found that those who could easily recognize the logos were more likely to have an unhealthy diet and therefore, become overweight.

In the study, the researchers took the body mass index (BMI) of 247 young children, with an average age of four and a half, and then asked each child to identify 30 different U.S. food brands. During the test, each child was shown a brand logo along with three types of foods. The participant had to match the correct food to the brand.

The researchers found that overweight children consistently recognized 10 food items more than children with a healthy weight. These brands included M&M’s candies, Cocoa Puff’s cereal, KFC, Keebler cookies, Pringles potato chips, Rice Krispies cereal, Cap’n Crunch cereal, Coca-Cola, Planter’s peanuts and Hamburger Helper.

Not surprisingly, the logo with the highest percentage of recognition by overweight children was McDonald’s.

“Although this is a correlation and not a causation, it is important for parents to understand that exposing your children to processed, unhealthy foods at a young age can create poor eating habits and set the tone for an unhealthy lifestyle,” says Dr. Vidhya Viswanathan, pediatric endocrinologist at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill. “It may be a red flag if your child is well-versed in brand logos on these unhealthy treats.”

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Comments

3 Comments

  1. What kids *don’t* recognize those brands? Those living in caves? Living in caves might explain why they don’t recognize those brands and it’s a pretty hard life, which would explain the relative lack of obesity. Sheesh.

    • I agree 100%. Maybe kids that don’t go to the grocery store with his or her parents wouldn’t recognize brands. My daughter is 3, and she recognises Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and most of our local stores. Because she is curious and bright, not because of anything else.

  2. Honestly my kids only recognized about 2 or 3 of those brands at 4 1/2. My daughter just turned 6 and if you just showed her the logo (because obviously she can read now), I still don’t think she’d know what most of those are. She simply hasn’t been introduced to them.

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health enews Staff
health enews Staff

health enews staff is a group of experienced writers from our Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care sites, which also includes freelance or intern writers.