"IF ELMO EATS BROCCOLI, WILL KIDS EAT IT TOO?” ATKINS FOUNDATION GRANT TO FUND FURTHER RESEARCH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. (New York, NY, September 20, 2005). The Dr. Robert C. Atkins Foundation has given Sesame Workshop a $73,000 grant to support expansion of its research study entitled, “The Effectiveness of Characters on Children’s Food Choices” (The “Elmo/ Broccoli” Study). Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, recently released the study, which strongly confirms the connection between character branding on children’s food products and their appeal. Workshop researchers presented this study as a component of a company-wide initiative, “Healthy Habits for Life,” at The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Workshop on Childhood Obesity in Washington, D.C.

The Atkins Foundation seeks to positively impact disease prevention and health management worldwide by supporting nutritional research and educational programs. Established with a $40 million endowment in August 2003, the Foundation, which is managed by National Philanthropic Trust, provides grants to support scientific, evidence-based and clinical research that examines the role of metabolic and nutrition protocols in obesity, heart disease, diabetes and other major health issues confronting our society today. Sesame Workshop will use the Foundation grant to fund a replication and expansion of the "Elmo/ Broccoli” study to see whether the Muppets from Sesame Street influence food choice. This study will be similar to the initial one, but research experts will be using real foods, rather than pictures, to see if children actually eat foods that have characters associated with them.

Funding will also go to an impact study of Sesame Street’s health storylines to analyze the effectiveness of Sesame Workshop’s “Healthy Habits for Life” programs in changing children’s attitudes and preference toward healthy foods and physical movement.

Testing will be done on product placement to determine whether the appearance of healthy foods in stories needs to be highly visible and central to the plot or whether the healthy foods can be subtly inserted into storylines in order to change behavior. This research could begin as early as this fall, with results anticipated within a year.

Findings from Sesame Workshop’s initial “Elmo/ Broccoli” study indicated that intake of a particular food increased if it carried a sticker of a Sesame Street character. For example, in the control group (no characters on either food) 78 percent of children participating in the study chose a chocolate bar over broccoli, whereas 22 percent chose the broccoli. However, when an Elmo sticker was placed on the broccoli and an unknown character was placed on the chocolate bar, 50 percent chose the chocolate bar and 50 percent chose the broccoli. Such outcomes suggest that the Sesame Street characters could play a strong role in increasing the appeal of healthy foods.

As part of a study on preschool children’s perceptions of health, Sesame Workshop was interested in whether character appeal would increase children’s interest in choosing particular foods. Preschool-aged children were divided into two experimental groups and one control group. Children in the experimental groups were asked to choose their favorite character in each of three pairs. Each pair consisted of one Sesame Street character (Elmo, Grover, Oscar) and an unknown character. All children were presented with six different pictures of pairs of food. In each food pair, children were asked to choose the food they wanted to eat. In the experimental groups, the food pictures had small stickers of characters. The control group was shown the pictures without the characters.

“Although this is a small sample study of 104, the evidence strongly suggests that popular characters in the media can have an increasingly powerful impact on children’s healthy habits,” stated Dr. Jennifer Kotler, Director of Research at Sesame Workshop. “We continue to look for additional partners to help promote our characters in healthy ways and we are excited to do further research with the grant from the Atkins Foundation.”

“Obesity and Type II diabetes are increasing in the U.S. at an alarming rate, particularly among children, due in large part to the devastating effects of the standard American diet. We applaud Sesame Workshop for its efforts to promote sound nutrition in the name of good health – a goal to which Robert Atkins devoted his life,” said Veronica Atkins, widow of Dr. Atkins and chair of the Atkins Foundation.

For more than 35 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 the “Healthy Habits for Life” initiative in May 2004 to harness the power of Sesame Street to guide children and their caregivers through important health lessons.

The coalition of members include: US Dept. of Health and Human Services, PBS, The Parenting Group, YMCA of USA, The Ad Council, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). For more information on Sesame Workshop’s “Healthy Habits for Life” initiative, go online to www.sesameworkshop.org/healthyhabits .

Other projects developed for the “Healthy Habits for Life” initiative include the Happy Healthy Monsters book series from Random House and workbooks from Learning Horizons, Happy Healthy Monsters home video from Sony Wonder, a national touring science museum exhibition called “Sesame Street Presents: The Body,” PSA’s featuring Muppets and United States Senators distributed to public, network and cable TV stations, and, of course, new segments that are part of Sesame Street’s 36th season. Furthermore, we have formed a relationship with the Produce for Better Health Foundation to help promote consumption of fruits and vegetables among children 2-6.

Sesame Workshop is a nonprofit educational organization making a meaningful difference in children's lives around the world. Founded in 1968, the Workshop changed television forever with the legendary Sesame Street. Today, the Workshop continues to innovate on behalf of children in 120 countries, using its proprietary research methodology to ensure its programs and products are engaging and enriching. Sesame Workshop is behind award-winning programs like Dragon Tales and Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat and ground breaking multimedia productions in South Africa, Egypt and Russia. As a nonprofit, Sesame Workshop puts the proceeds it receives from sales of Sesame Street, Dragon Tales and Sagwa products right back into its educational projects for children around the world. Find the Workshop online at www.sesameworkshop.org.