Can Young Children Mistake Medicine for Candy?

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of my science fair project is to determine if young children can mistake common medicines sold over the counter for candy that is similar in appearance. Methods/Materials 5 types of medication and 5 types of candy similar in appearance affixed to index cards and 32 kindergarten students. Each subject was shown ten different index cards and was asked if the item affixed to the card was medicine or candy. The results were recorded and the age and gender of each subject was noted. Results Young children mistake medicine for candy 52% of the time. The results also showed that age made a greater difference in the results than gender because 6 year olds were able to correctly determine candy from medicine 10% more accurately than 5 year olds. Conclusions/Discussion If medications are left where young children can get them, they are likely to ingest them because many medications look like candy. Many medications are manufactured in the same shape, size, color and overall appearance of commonly sold candy. There are approximately 2 million accidental poisonings a year. Manufacturers of medications should be required to make the medicine look different than candy.

Competition history

• CSEF 2017 Cognitive Science (Junior Division Only) · Entry J0708

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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