Study: Food brand recognition puts preschoolers at obesity risk

May 3 (UPI) -- Research at the University of Michigan suggests preschoolers who recognize food name brands are at an increased risk of becoming obese later in life.

The study, published in the journal Appetite, found the risk of weight gain appeared to occur independently of other factors, including family demographics and television viewing.

The study included 247 preschoolers with an average age of 4.5 years who completed recognition and recall tests for 30 food brands and had their body mass index, or BMI, measured. Study participants were given three food choices to match with each brand logo.

The most popular food brand, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, was recognized by 96 percent of the children. The least recognized brand was SpaghettiOs, which was recognized by 41 percent of the preschoolers.

Researchers report that overweight children recognized 10 food brands -- M&M's, Cocoa Puffs, Keebler cookies, Pringles, Rice Kristpies, Coca-Cola, KFC, Cap'n Crunch, Hamburger Helper and Planters peanuts -- more than healthy-weight children.

The fast-food chain McDonald's had the highest recall among overweight children, with the golden arches recognized by 62 percent of the participants.

"It is interesting that despite very low recall rates for some foods, recognition rates were still high," Kristen Harrison, a professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan, said in a press release.

Factors such as higher parent BMI, child race or ethnicity, and lower child vocabulary were all associated with higher BMI percentiles in children.

Preschoolers in the study did confuse brand names with the types of foods -- for example, the Keebler logo was recognized as matching cookies by 86 percent surveyed, but just 1 percent were able to name the brand.