Advice on getting children to eat healthily! (a survey)

[emmacg02]

Hi, I'm a 6th form student studying design technology and for my coursework this year I am focusing on a tool that will encourage the whole family to eat healthily by involving children in decisions about mealtimes. As part of my research, I would like to gather some responses to the questions below from parents of 4-9 year old children (obviously if you have older children you can still answer this, but that's the age range I'm targeting my product at).
I'll keep your responses anonymous in my coursework- I just need a rough idea of my target market

1. How old are/is your children/child?
2. When you buy a product for your child/children, do you find that you are personally drawn to certain colours? If so, do you look for colours that you personally like or those that you think will appear to your child/children?
3. How regularly, if at all, do you cook with your child/children?
4. If you cook with your child/children, what kind of thing would you cook (i.e. the family dinner, baking a treat/cake etc.)?
5. Do you believe that children should have an input in family mealtimes, and why?
6. Do you think your child would benefit from having more input in mealtimes, cooking more, choosing & reading recipes etc.? Why?
7. What age did/would you feel comfortable introducing your child to properly cooking (more than just putting things you give them into a bowl etc)?
8. What age did/would you let your child start using knives in the kitchen under supervision from you/another adult?
9. How much storage space do you have in your kitchen area (i.e. almost none, very little, quite a bit, lots)?
10. How much free worktop space do you have in your kitchen (i.e. almost none/I like to keep it clear, very little, quite a bit, lots)?
11. How much would you be willing to pay for an item that allows your child to help with the cooking at home in a safe way?
12. How much money would you typically spend on a kitchen utensil (not electricals- I mean items such as a chopping board, mixing bowls, measuring equipment etc.)?

Apologies that this is so long & thanks in advance for your help :)

You'd be better using Survey Monkey so that people can fill their answers in there.

1.How old are/is your children/child?
4 and 6
2.When you buy a product for your child/children, do you find that you are personally drawn to certain colours? If so, do you look for colours that you personally like or those that you think will appear to your child/children?
The kids like bright colours and cartoon designs.
3.How regularly, if at all, do you cook with your child/children?
Probably once every school holiday.
4.If you cook with your child/children, what kind of thing would you cook (i.e. the family dinner, baking a treat/cake etc.)?
Sometimes they help with dinner, occasionally we will make cakes or biscuits.
5.Do you believe that children should have an input in family mealtimes, and why?
To some extent, bit they shouldn't dictate what the family eats 7 days a week because living with other people requires compromise and they have to learn that. And there's no way I'm cooking more than one dinner for fussy people :)
6.Do you think your child would benefit from having more input in mealtimes, cooking more, choosing & reading recipes etc.? Why?
I think children are slightly keener to eat things if they've cooked it, but this idea doesn't extend as far as spinach and stilton surprise.
7.What age did/would you feel comfortable introducing your child to properly cooking (more than just putting things you give them into a bowl etc)? My eldest, at 6, is just getting to this point. However he struggles with the height of the kitchen worktops, amount of strength required etc
8.What age did/would you let your child start using knives in the kitchen under supervision from you/another adult? About 5-6. I've read that a sharp knife is safer than a blunt one because they don't need to much pressure to cut, so he gets the sharpest knife to cut fruit for his pudding.
9.How much storage space do you have in your kitchen area (i.e. almost none, very little, quite a bit, lots)? Quite a bit but I wouldn't buy anything bulky if I wasn't 90% sure it was worth having. Something the size of a stick blender I would consider though.
10.How much free worktop space do you have in your kitchen (i.e. almost none/I like to keep it clear, very little, quite a bit, lots)? Quite a bit
11.How much would you be willing to pay for an item that allows your child to help with the cooking at home in a safe way? £15
12.How much money would you typically spend on a kitchen utensil (not electricals- I mean items such as a chopping board, mixing bowls, measuring equipment etc.)? £5-£15