A wonderful new study shows that preschoolers – preschoolers – are more likely to think anything tastes good if it has the right branding on it (in this case, McDonald’s).

Even carrots, milk and apple juice tasted better to the kids when they were wrapped in the familiar packaging of the Golden Arches.

The study had youngsters sample identical McDonald’s foods in name-brand and unmarked wrappers. The unmarked foods always lost the taste test.

This reveals deeply-rooted and ingrained behavioral results from these children. For my money, though, the sad part is really this:

The study involved 63 low-income children ages 3 to 5 from Head Start centers in San Mateo County, Calif. Robinson believes the results would be similar for children from wealthier families…

Just two of the 63 children studied said they’d never eaten at McDonald’s, and about one-third ate there at least weekly. Most recognized the McDonald’s logo but it was mentioned to those who didn’t.

I’d like to think that I’m trying to raise my children to better standards of caloric intake than this. I might not have yet learned my lesson, but the goal of any parent is to try and make sure your children turn out better than you did. My kids get McDonald’s maybe once or twice a month, and even then I sometimes think that’s too often.

Of course, they don’t always eat the meals their mother makes for them, either, but I think that’s just a closed-mindedness about new things. We’ll break them of that yet.