The postingestive consequences of fat condition preferences for flavors associated with high dietary fat.

To investigate whether children acquire conditioned preferences for flavors associated with high dietary fat content, 27 3- and 4-year-old children participated in a series of 12 conditioning or mere exposure sessions. Following an overnight fast, children who participated in conditioning trials consumed fixed quantities of a flavored yogurt drink that on half the days was high in fat and energy (954 kJ, 18 g fat/150 g serving) or contained no fat (277 kJ, 0 g fat/150 g serving). Children in the conditioning group consumed 150 g servings, children in the mere exposure group tasted 16 g or less of these same stimuli. Preferences were assessed before and after conditioning when the children were hungry and also postconditioning when the children were satiated. Results provided evidence for conditioned preferences based on the postingestive consequences of dietary fat. Children in the conditioning group learned to prefer the high-density paired flavor over the low-density paired flavor, and increased their preference for the high-density paired flavor from pre- to postconditioning. Children in the mere exposure group showed positive shifts in preference for both the fat-free and the high-fat paired flavors. In the conditioning group, preferences for the high-fat flavor was depressed by satiety, whereas the preference of the mere exposure group did not vary with hunger state. Conditioned flavor preferences, based on the postingestive consequences of fat intake, may contribute to children's preferences for foods high in dietary fat.