'Watching Others Eat Raw Veggies With Negative Expressions Results In Disliking': Study

Most kids develop the habit of not enjoying eating vegetables while parents put efforts into making them consume these nutritious food items. What is the reason behind the same? In this article, we will delve deep into understanding why kids dislike vegetables. Well, humans often learn and draw observations from others. This is particularly true when it comes to food preferences.

Recently, a UK study was conducted to examine the impact of observing facial expressions on food preferences. The research was specifically regarding raw broccoli. Dr Katie Edwards, the study’s lead author at Aston University School of Psychology, highlighted a few facts about the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Edwards explained, “We show that watching others eating a raw vegetable with a negative facial expression reduces adult women’s liking of that vegetable, but not their desire to eat it.” The study involved over 200 young women who were shown videos of various adults consuming raw broccoli with varying facial expressions- positive, neutral and negative. As per the findings of the research, negative expressions resulted in lowering the vegetable’s liking. However, positive expressions didn’t enhance the same.

“Watching others eating a raw vegetable with a positive facial expression did not increase adults’ vegetable liking or eating desire,” said Edwards. Explaining the potential response behind the same, he added that foods shown with disgust are avoided due to the natural defence against harmful foods. “This might imply that watching someone eating a raw vegetable with positive facial expressions does not seem an effective strategy for increasing adults’ vegetable consumption,” Edwards further said.

The study focused on the reactions of the adults but this can also be extended to children. As a consequence, they are more hesitant to try vegetables. As the parent shows disgust whilst eating vegetables, the negative consequences on children’s vegetable acceptance are visible. The study was well conducted as it used video clips of people eating broccoli instead of live demonstrations or static images which eventually provided a more realistic view of dynamic facial reactions.