The following is an interview with Jane Park, assistant director of content for the Sesame Workshop. The Sesame Workshop's multi-year, content-driven initiative to help young children and their caregivers establish an early foundation of healthy habits that can last a lifetime. It harness the power and reach of Sesame Street to make overall health and well-being crucial to early development in much the same way we have helped children learn to read and write.  Read the very interesting interview and also take a peek at the investigation on preschool nutrition.

Why did Sesame Street decide to promote healthy eating?

Answer: For over 37 years, Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind Sesame Street, has addressed the critical needs of children, responding to current issues with engaging and trusted educational information. Triggered by the growing crisis of childhood obesity, Sesame Workshop launched a company-wide "Healthy Habits for Life" initiative in May 2004 to harness the power of Sesame Street and help children and their families establish an early foundation of healthy eating habits and physical activity.  Since the launch of our initiative, we have produced a wealth of “Healthy Habits for Life” materials across multiple media platforms including newly produced health-related segments on the Sesame Street television series, books, magazines, home video, online, and products. 

What guidelines do you use to come up with your healthy nutrition and physical activity advice?

Answer: During the early stages of our initiative, we consulted with a wide variety of experts representing the areas of child development, public health, nutrition, physical activity, and behavioral health who have provided guidance and counsel on all aspects of our initiative.  Our advisors also helped us develop a comprehensive set of key health messages related to healthy eating, physical activity, hygiene and rest. We have worked closely with our advisors in order to ensure that all of our messages are age-appropriate for our target audience, concrete, and engaging.  Our goal has also been to provide information and advice that is simple and accessible so that healthy habits can be incorporated into the daily lives of young children and families in fun, easy and creative ways. 

What’s the feedback you’ve been receiving?

Answer: We have received widespread recognition and praise from a broad range of individuals and organizations caring for children such as government leaders, health organizations, pediatricians, parents, and childcare providers.  The most meaningful feedback we have received is from parents who have written to us sharing that their children have been more likely to eat healthy foods like fruits and vegetables or have fun being physically active after being exposed to our materials. 

One mother wrote: “I just want to commend you in your latest series of Sesame Street shows related to nutrition.  I am a mother of a two year old who is just in love with anything Sesame.  It's amazing how I’ve offered her a banana over and over again, but when she sees Elmo eating a banana, well, that's just the end all and she MUST have a banana.  For that and all the other great things you have on your programs, I thank you.  Continue with the great work.  I know many parents appreciate the new health conscious Sesame Street! Thank you Thank you Thank you!”   –Laura, mother of a two year old daughter.

In response to our new Sesame Street canned vegetable product (Del Monte), another mother wrote us the following letter:

“My husband and I have been struggling for about a year to get our now 2 year old to eat vegetables. I bought the cut Green Beans with Elmo on the cover and she just finished her 4th helping! If Elmo likes it- I guess she will like it. Thank you so much for putting familiar Sesame Street characters on your labels. It has made our dinner table a happy table! –Kristen Ransdell, Fuquay Varina, NC (9/15/06)

Anything notable? 

Answer: Our 36^th season of Sesame Street which focused on health and nutrition received eight Emmy Awards.  In addition to the television series, Sesame Workshop has partnered with food companies such as Sunkist (citrus fruits), Stemilt Cherry Growers, Del Monte (canned vegetables) to use the power and appeal of our Sesame Street characters to increase children’s preferences toward healthy foods.  The Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) recently awarded Sesame Workshop and Sunkist a prestigious award for the Best Promotion of the Year. 

How do you approach foods such as cookies, cakes, ice cream candy, etc.. on the show?

Answer: One of our goals has been to teach the value of moderation and balance in children’s diets. Research shows that young children's food habits and preferences are generally shaped between ages 2 and 4, which is the age of our target viewing audience. An important message that we have presented through Cookie Monster is the value of eating in moderation, not elimination. We are not preventing Cookie Monster from eating his favorite food- the classic chocolate chip cookie. He still loves to eat cookies, but is learning that foods like cookies, ice cream, and candy are “sometimes foods” while foods like fruits and vegetables that are healthy to eat anytime are “everyday foods.”

How do you how to foster children's preferences for healthy foods and how do you promote acceptance of new foods—what’s your approach?

Answer: Young children are more likely to be interested in nutritious foods and healthy habits if they are introduced in fun and creative ways.  Our approach has been to increase children’s excitement about healthy foods by modeling our most popular characters such as Elmo trying and enjoying new healthy foods.  We have also presented a colorful array of healthy foods through entertaining storylines, fun songs, dances, and new animated and live action segments.  Through this approach, our goal is to make healthy foods and healthy eating fun, exciting, and appealing for young children.   

Sesame Workshop has conducted some initial research to determine whether or not the Sesame Street characters can increase children’s preference for healthy foods.  For example, in the control group (no characters on either food) 78% of children participating in the study chose a chocolate bar over broccoli, whereas 22% chose the broccoli. However, when an Elmo sticker was placed on the broccoli and an unknown character was placed on the chocolate bar, 50% chose the chocolate bar and 50% chose the broccoli.  This study with preschoolers revealed that the Sesame Street characters could play a strong role in increasing the appeal of healthy foods. 

What about the suggestion by certain health professionals that children’s television viewing should be limited?  

Answer:  Content is key when it comes to television viewing for young children.  We encourage parents and caregivers to monitor what their children are watching so that the content provides safe, age-appropriate, and educational viewing experiences.  For example, the content of Sesame Street promotes active viewing experiences in which children can play a healthy food game or get up and move along with our characters.  The past two seasons of Sesame Street has also modeled fun physical activities that children and families can do together while playing indoors and outdoors.  In addition to the importance of content, we encourage moderation, not only with regard to healthy eating, but also television viewing time.  We believe that children learn best through rich and meaningful explorations with the world around them, and we model these experiences on Sesame Street. 

Realizing that the show is publicly funded, but do you also take grants or have sponsorships, would you allow sponsors of Sesame Street to be a candy, cookies, cake, or fast food? If so, please explain.

Answer: Sesame Street is funded by corporations and foundations that provide the financial means to produce high quality, educational programming, and content designed to put young children on a positive trajectory for a healthy life.  The brief corporate sponsorship spots at the beginning and end of Sesame Street are not call to actions, and do not market any specific products. Instead, are linked to messages about the school readiness, and the importance of having an active imagination or healthy lifestyle.  However, we make a distinction between companies who only market candy or cookies, and fast food restaurants who offer a range of healthy food choices for children and families.

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