Obesity has become a widespread health concern, especially in children. Researchers believe that giving children easy access to food increases their likelihood of consuming extra calories. Schwartz, Chen, and Brownell (2003) examined whether children would be willing to take a small toy instead of candy at when trick-or-treating on Halloween. They had seven homes in 5 different towns in Connecticut present children with a plate of 4 toys (stretch pumpkin men, large glow-in-the-dark insects, Halloween theme stickers, and Halloween theme pencils) and a plate of 4 different name brand candies (lollipops, fruit-flavored chewy candies, fruit-flavored crunchy wafers, and “sweet and tart” hard candies) to see whether children were more likely to choose the candy or the toy. The houses alternated whether the toys were on the left or on the right. Data were recorded for 284 children between the ages of 3 and 14 (who did not ask for both types of treats). |
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