Appealing to Vanity: Could Potential Appearance Improvement Motivate Fruit and Vegetable Consumption?

Ross D. Whitehead*, Gozde Ozakinci, Ian D. Stephen, David I. Perrett

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorialpeer-review

Abstract

Fruit and vegetable consumption is inadequate among adults in the United States; this contributes to preventable morbidity and mortality. More effective dietary intervention strategies are needed.

Recently, interventions that advertise the consequences of behavior for appearance have been successful in modifying sun-exposure habits and tobacco use. Such an approach might also facilitate dietary improvement.

Consumption of carotenoid-rich fruit and vegetables positively affects skin color, which influences perceptions-of health and attractiveness,and promoting such an effect may motivate target audiences to increase consumption of this important food group. This approach represents a novel direction for the field and is potentially suitable for cost-effective, population-level dissemination through the visual media. (Am J Public Health. 2012;102:207-211. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300405)

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)207-211
Number of pages5
JournalAmerican Journal of Public Health
Volume102
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2012

Keywords

  • INTERVENTIONS
  • NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE
  • CAROTENOIDS
  • FACIAL ATTRACTIVENESS
  • INCREASE FRUIT
  • BEHAVIOR-CHANGE
  • OXIDATIVE STRESS
  • HUMAN SKIN
  • DIETARY CHANGE
  • DIABETES-MELLITUS

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