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Costume-Clad Veggies Could Be More Appealing To Kids, Study Finds
Resume![Super Sprowtz characters Brian Broccoli, Erica Eggplant and Colby Carrot. (Courtesy Super Sprowtz via Facebook)Super Sprowtz characters Brian Broccoli, Erica Eggplant and Colby Carrot. (Courtesy Super Sprowtz via Facebook)](https://wordpress.wbur.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/0831_super-sprowtz-1000x691.jpg)
Are vegetables the victims of bad marketing? Is it possible that simply dressing up a zucchini as a surfer dude will get kids to eat more zucchini?
A study recently published in the journal Pediatrics says yes. And if you play videos and display banners about him — and his carrot and sweet pea friends — you can increase kids' visits to the salad bar by a whopping 240 percent.
Here's a video about Super Sprowtz, an organization that turned vegetables into a cast of superhero characters to teach children about nutrition:
The study was conducted by researchers at the Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition at Cornell University. Professor Drew Hanks is its lead author.
Hanks is now a professor of consumer sciences at Ohio State University, and he joins Here & Now's Robin Young to discuss the implications of his research.
![A composite image of food carts featuring vegetables as super heroes. (Courtesy Sprowtz)](https://media.wbur.org/wp/2016/08/0831_food-carts.jpg)
Guest
Drew Hanks, assistant professor of consumer sciences at Ohio State University.
This segment aired on August 31, 2016.