Institute of Health Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, University of Rzeszow, Rzeszów, Poland.
Institute of Medical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, University of Rzeszow, Rzeszów, Poland.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Nov 16;13:1031884. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1031884. eCollection 2022.
Food selection among adults and mostly children depends mainly on the taste of a dish. Poor taste sensitivity as well as strong preferences for sweet and fat taste may be the factors predisposing children to become overweight and/or develop obesity. Family environment, including mothers' eating habits and preferences, may affect children's taste perception and preferences. The aim of the study was to assess taste perception and preferences in children and their mothers in relation to their weight status.
Sensory tests were carried out using puddings with different sugar and fat content. In all study participants anthropometric measurements (weight and height with BMI calculation) were performed.
The study results did not reveal any differences in the taste sensitivity of overweight/obese and normative body weight children. Similarity was found in the perception of different levels of sweet/fat flavors among children and parents. Overweight/obese children were two times more likely to choose a very fat and very sweet taste compared to normal weight children. The results showed that children prefer a sweet taste more often than their mothers. Mothers' fat taste preferences were important - the fatter the taste they selected, the greater the percentage of children with obesity.
Mothers' taste sensitivity may affect children's perception of the quality (intensity) of flavors. Normal-weight children chose a low fat and low sweet taste more frequently than those with excess of body weight. The role of parents in shaping taste preferences is of utmost importance and should be based on limiting the consumption of products rich in sugar and/or fat.
成年人，尤其是儿童的食物选择主要取决于菜肴的味道。味觉敏感性差以及对甜和脂肪味道的强烈偏好可能是导致儿童超重和/或肥胖的因素。家庭环境，包括母亲的饮食习惯和偏好，可能会影响儿童的味觉感知和偏好。本研究的目的是评估儿童及其母亲的味觉感知和偏好与体重状况的关系。
使用不同糖和脂肪含量的布丁进行感官测试。在所有研究参与者中进行了人体测量（体重和身高，计算 BMI）。
研究结果并未显示超重/肥胖和正常体重儿童的味觉敏感性存在差异。儿童和父母对不同甜度/脂肪度的感知存在相似性。与正常体重儿童相比，超重/肥胖儿童选择非常甜和非常油腻味道的可能性高出两倍。研究结果表明，儿童比母亲更喜欢甜味。母亲的脂肪味偏好很重要——她们选择的味道越油腻，肥胖儿童的比例就越大。
母亲的味觉敏感性可能会影响儿童对味道质量（强度）的感知。正常体重儿童比超重儿童更频繁地选择低脂肪和低甜度的味道。父母在塑造味觉偏好方面的作用至关重要，应基于限制糖和/或脂肪含量高的产品的消费。
