As They Grow Up, Children Change from “yummy” to That “makes Us Fat”

The results demonstrate an interesting dissociation. When the child is questioned implicitly, he makes "culinary" associations (e.g. pasta-steak) in 81% of cases, to the detriment of nutritional associations (e.g. pasta-rice). This dominance of the culinary attitude is seen irrespective of the child's age, reflecting cultural learning where pleasure is fundamental. However, when the child is questioned explicitly about the pleasure or health value of the foods, an increase in the number of nutritional categorization is seen with age, to the detriment of hedonic categories. By the age of 10, half of the categorizations are made up of nutritional criteria rather than hedonic ones. These results signify the emergence of cognitive attitudes in the child, which become more and more rational as his development evolves, and which are influenced by social norms.