Program in International and Community Nutrition, Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA.
Intake - Center for Dietary Assessment, FHI 360, Washington, DC.
J Nutr. 2019 Mar 1;149(3):532-541. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxy293.
Whether consuming sweet foods early in life affects sweet food preferences and consumption later in childhood is unknown.
We tested the hypothesis that exposure to a slightly sweet lipid-based nutrient supplement (LNS) early in life would not increase preference for or consumption of sweet items at preschool age.
We followed up children who had participated in a randomized trial in Ghana in which LNS was provided to 1 group of women during pregnancy and 6 mo postpartum and to their infants from ages 6-18 mo (LNS group). The control group (non-LNS group) received iron and folic acid during pregnancy or multiple micronutrients during pregnancy and 6 mo postpartum, with no infant supplementation. At 4-6 y, we obtained data from caregivers on children's food and beverage preferences and consumption (n = 985). For a randomly selected subsample (n = 624), we assessed preference for sweet items using a photo game (range in potential scores, 0-15). For the photo game and reported consumption of sweet items, we examined group differences using predetermined noninferiority margins equivalent to an effect size of 0.2.
Median (quartile 1, quartile 3) reported consumption of sweet items (times in previous week) was 14 (8, 23) in the LNS group and 16 (9, 22) in the non-LNS group; in the photo game, the number of sweet items selected was 15 (11, 15) and 15 (11, 15), respectively. The upper level of the 95% CI of the mean difference between LNS and non-LNS groups did not exceed the noninferiority margins for these outcomes. Caregiver-reported preferences for sweet items also did not differ between groups (P = 0.9).
In this setting, where child consumption of sweet foods was common, exposure to a slightly sweet LNS early in life did not increase preference for or consumption of sweet foods and beverages at preschool age. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00970866.
儿童早期摄入甜食是否会影响其日后对甜食的偏好和摄入量尚不清楚。
我们检验了这样一种假设，即在生命早期接触一种略带甜味的脂质基础营养素补充剂（LNS）不会增加学龄前儿童对甜味食物的偏好或摄入量。
我们对加纳的一项随机试验中的儿童进行了随访，该试验中，1 组孕妇在孕期和产后 6 个月接受 LNS，婴儿在 6-18 个月时接受 LNS（LNS 组）；对照组（非 LNS 组）在孕期和产后 6 个月接受铁和叶酸或多种微量营养素，婴儿不补充 LNS。在 4-6 岁时，我们从照顾者那里获得了儿童食物和饮料偏好及摄入量的数据（n=985）。对于随机选择的亚样本（n=624），我们使用照片游戏评估了对甜味食物的偏好（潜在得分范围为 0-15 分）。对于照片游戏和报告的甜味食物摄入量，我们使用预定的非劣效性边界（相当于 0.2 的效应大小）来检查组间差异。
LNS 组报告的甜味食物（上周食用次数）中位数（四分位数 1，四分位数 3）为 14（8，23），非 LNS 组为 16（9，22）；在照片游戏中，选择的甜味食物数量分别为 15（11，15）和 15（11，15）。LNS 组和非 LNS 组之间平均差异的 95%CI 上限未超过这些结果的非劣效性边界。两组间照顾者报告的对甜味食物的偏好也没有差异（P=0.9）。
在这种儿童普遍食用甜食的环境下，生命早期接触略带甜味的 LNS 并不会增加学龄前儿童对甜味食物和饮料的偏好或摄入量。本试验在 clinicaltrials.gov 注册，编号为 NCT00970866。
