Children’s Eating Culture. Research on children’s eating behaviors, using appropriate design methods to improve their eating experience

Abstract

The purpose of the project was to research children’s eating culture, find the reason why some children don’t like to eat, and address this issue in design field to improve children’s eating experience. Also provide a less stressful environment for their parents, in order to create a better parent-child-relationship. The research included academic study in children’s eating patterns, food preferences, diet quality, and interview, observation with children and parents in different families. The end result was a cooking kit to encourage children to get involved in cooking (preparation), in this way children will get to know food better in a playful way, so that they are more willing to try different food and feel more joy eating. The central design is a tool system called FoodiPlus that has different inspiring shapes for children to put on the food pieces and create characters, patterns, sceneries or decorations. There are also a chopping board, a knife, and a plate together with the FoodiPlus which becomes a cooking kit especially for children, this cooking kit allows children to have their identity in the kitchen, and the way of using it makes cooking with children less messy and safer from the parents’ point of view.