Cartoon characters on box, cereal tastier

PHILADELPHIA, March 8 (UPI) -- Children ages 4-6 said they enjoyed a cereal more when a popular cartoon character like Shrek was on the box, U.S. researchers found.

Doctoral students Matthew Lapierre and Sarah Vaala with assistant professor Deborah L. Linebarger of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia were showed boxes of cereal labeled either Healthy Bits or Sugar Bits, with some boxes featuring media (cartoon) characters and some without to 80 children, average age 5.6 years.

After seeing only one of the boxes, the children were asked to rate the taste of the cereal on a scale of 1 to 5.

The study, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found almost all the children reported liking the cereal, but those who saw a popular media character on the box reported liking the cereal more than those who viewed a box without a character.

In addition, children who sampled Healthy Bits reported enjoying the cereal more than children who were given the same cereal under Sugar Bits, but children who ate Sugar Bits in a box with no characters reported being significantly less satisfied with the taste than those in the other three groups, the study said.