“Recently, we sent our qualitative team, consisting of anthropologists and sociologists, out into the field to conduct ethnographic research with parents and children in various regions throughout the United States,” writes The Hartman Groups Julie Tempert in this week’s edition of HartBeat. “Their mission was to learn about the world of children's wellness and understand how parents and children negotiate a wellness lifestyle.”
And what did they find? “As is true with other aspects of their life, children's views on wellness are often patterned after their parents, in many cases reflecting elements of what their parents try to teach them such as ‘not eating too many sweets,’ ‘brushing my teeth everyday,’ or ‘playing outside.’
Tempest writes that some old stereotypes still ring true. “We found that boys and girls have different awareness levels and interests in health and wellness. In our interviews, girls were much more aware and interested in talking about wellness than the boys of the same age group. Boys did not spend much time thinking or talking about wellness at all, suggesting it is clearly neither a top-of-mind issue nor a popular one to discuss. Girls focus on fruits and vegetables, exercise, meaningful relationships, and nature, whereas boys equate health with foods served at dinner, sports activities, superheroes and computer games.”
And what did they find? “As is true with other aspects of their life, children's views on wellness are often patterned after their parents, in many cases reflecting elements of what their parents try to teach them such as ‘not eating too many sweets,’ ‘brushing my teeth everyday,’ or ‘playing outside.’
Tempest writes that some old stereotypes still ring true. “We found that boys and girls have different awareness levels and interests in health and wellness. In our interviews, girls were much more aware and interested in talking about wellness than the boys of the same age group. Boys did not spend much time thinking or talking about wellness at all, suggesting it is clearly neither a top-of-mind issue nor a popular one to discuss. Girls focus on fruits and vegetables, exercise, meaningful relationships, and nature, whereas boys equate health with foods served at dinner, sports activities, superheroes and computer games.”
- KC's View:
-
All valuable insights, especially for retailers looking to create marketing and merchandising programs for kids. And very timely, in an era of “obesity lawsuits,” school districts outlawing the sales of soft drinks on school property, and national concerns about the eating habits of the nation’s youth.
You can read more by going to…
http://www.hartman-group.com/HB/new.html
…or by clicking on the HartBeat logo on the right hand side of the page.
And you can find out more next week, when we feature Part Two of this series.
