The cognitive foundations of food moralization

By adulthood, we attach moral valence to food-labeling some foods as "good," others as "bad," and judging ourselves and others based on the foods we choose. Here, we examined young children's beliefs about which foods are permissible to eat and whether these conceptions vary across early childhood-shifting patterns of normative alignment that may reflect early internalization of societal beliefs about food and lay a cognitive foundation for food moralization. We presented 4- to 6-year-old children with 12 foods (four healthy, four unhealthy, four of mixed-health status; based on adult health ratings) and asked children to categorize each as "healthy" or "not healthy" (Health); "liked" or "not liked" (Desirability); and "OK" or "not OK" (Permissibility). Although children's Desirability categorizations were similar across ages (with unhealthy foods categorized as "liked" most often), older (vs. younger) children's Health and Permissibility categorizations were more closely aligned with each other and with adult health judgments. Moreover, whereas younger children positively associated Permissibility with Desirability, older children did not. In contrast, a positive association between Permissibility and Health was stronger among older children. Parents' food-related behaviors further predicted differences in how children conceptualized Permissibility. Together, these findings reveal differences across early childhood in beliefs regarding what is permissible to eat-shifting patterns that may lay a foundation on which food moralization is built. The work paves the way for continued research on the emergence and consequences of food moralization and for efforts to teach about health in ways that support healthy relationships with food.