Outliers: Cookie Monster cuts back as Muppets turn to nutrition

Bert and Ernie jump rope and munch apples and carrots, and Cookie Monster has his namesake treat once a week, not every day. Can a Muppets mini-makeover improve kids' health, too?

A three-year experiment in South America suggests it can. Now, the Sesame Street project is coming to the U.S.

Already, a test run in a New York City preschool has seen results: Jahmeice Strowder, 4, got her mom to make cauliflower for the first time in her life. A classmate, Bryson Payne, bugged his dad for a banana every morning and more salads. A parent brought home a loaf of bread instead of Doritos.

“What we created, I believe, is a culture” of healthy eating to fight a “toxic environment” of junk food and too little exercise, said Dr. Valentin Fuster, a cardiologist at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. Six years ago, he started working with Sesame Workshop, producers of television's “Sesame Street,” on a project aimed at 3- to 5-year-olds. “At that age they pay attention to everything” and habits can be changed, he said.

The program started in Colombia because U.S. schools that Fuster approached years ago were reluctant, but a wealthy family's foundation was willing to sponsor the experiment in Bogota.

Kids had training in healthy habits and how the body works for an hour a day for five months using Sesame Workshop-produced videos, a board game, songs, posters and activities. Parents were involved through take-home assignments and workshops that focused on overcoming barriers to good food and exercise.

Children's weight and exercise habits were measured at the start and 1½ and 3 years later. Although many moved or dropped out by the time the study ended, researchers documented a significant increase in knowledge, attitude and health habit scores among kids in the program versus the comparison group.

In New York, the program plans to launch in several early childhood and Head Start programs this spring and fall.

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