Hedonic message or nutritional message: Which one works?

Eating is not just about incorporating foods or nutrients. Eating or feeding is both a symbolic and social act that is part of a family, a history and a society. This is an essential act which contributes to social identity and to alterity, and which is a vector of pleasure and commensality. However, eating becomes a source of worries because of the conflicting messages and unrealistic injunctions broadcasted through paper press and Internet web sites that lead to misunderstandings and confusions in the mind of the eaters. Moreover, the pleasure of eating is demonized and stigmatized in favor of rational messages highlighting the nutritional values of ``healthy'' foods to be favored. However, are ``pleasure'' and ``health'' two really irreconcilable concepts? The present article presents a review of the impact of the nutrition-oriented messages and of the pleasure-oriented messages, discussed in the light of different recent studies investigating their influence on children's eating behaviors. (C) 2019 Societe francaise de nutrition. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.