Increased preference for fat and sugar may have a role in overweight and obesity development. However, this effect is likely to vary across different food cultures. To date, few studies on this topic ...have been conducted in children and none have employed an international, multi-centre design.
To document taste preferences for fat and sweet in children from eight European countries and to investigate their association with weight status and dietary habits.
A total of 1696 children aged 6-9 years from survey centres in Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Hungary and Spain tasted and subsequently chose between a high- versus a low-fat cracker and a natural versus a sugar-sweetened apple juice. Children's consumption frequency of fatty and sweet foods and demographic variables were obtained from parental-reported questionnaires. Weight and height of the children were measured.
Fat and sweet taste preferences varied substantially across survey centres. Independent of survey centre, age, sex, parental education and parental BMI, overweight including obesity was positively associated with fat preference and sweet preference. Fat preference associations were stronger in girls. Girls, but not boys, with a combined preference for fat and sweet had an especially high probability of being overweight or obese. Adjusted models with BMI z-score as the dependent variable were consistent with results of the analyses with BMI categories, but with significant results only for fat preference in girls. Frequent consumption of fatty foods was related to fat preference in bivariate analyses; however, adjusting for survey centre attenuated the association. Sweet preference was not related to consumption of sweet foods, either in crude or in adjusted analyses.
Fat and sweet taste preferences are related to weight status in European children across regions with varying food cultures.
Background: The 5-year multilevel epidemiological IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants) study, launched under the Sixth ...Framework Programme of the European Commission, aims at counteracting the epidemic of dietary- and lifestyle-induced adverse health effects in children. To reveal possible links between overweight/obesity in childhood with taste sensitivity and taste preferences, special procedures were developed for application at the European level. This paper presents these newly developed procedures. Methods: Testing procedures to assess taste sensitivity for sucrose, sodium chloride, caffeine and monosodium glutamate and taste preferences for sweet, flavour, salty, fatty and umami tastes were developed with 191 children from nursery schools and preschools in northern Germany. To assess test–retest reliability, Cohen's kappa was calculated. Results: The study shows that it is possible to assess taste sensitivity and taste preferences even in young children, provided the framework of the procedures applied is adapted to this scenario. Test–retest reliability was calculated for the procedures applied and the results show that they are very reliable for assessing taste preferences and taste sensitivity in young children. Conclusion: It is possible to assess taste sensitivity and taste preferences even in young children, provided the methods applied are adapted to the special requirements that working with young children entail.
Background: During the preparatory phase of the baseline survey of the IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants) study, ...standardised survey procedures including instruments, examinations, methods, biological sampling and software tools were developed and pretested for their feasibility, robustness and acceptability. Methods: A pretest was conducted of full survey procedures in 119 children aged 2–9 years in nine European survey centres (N per centre=4–27, mean 13.22). Novel techniques such as ultrasound measurements to assess subcutaneous fat and bone health, heart rate monitors combined with accelerometers and sensory taste perception tests were used. Results: Biological sampling, physical examinations, sensory taste perception tests, parental questionnaire and medical interview required only minor amendments, whereas physical fitness tests required major adaptations. Callipers for skinfold measurements were favoured over ultrasonography, as the latter showed only a low-to-modest agreement with calliper measurements (correlation coefficients of r=−0.22 and r=0.67 for all children). The combination of accelerometers with heart rate monitors was feasible in school children only. Implementation of the computer-based 24-h dietary recall required a complex and intensive developmental stage. It was combined with the assessment of school meals, which was changed after the pretest from portion weighing to the more feasible observation of the consumed portion size per child. The inclusion of heel ultrasonometry as an indicator of bone stiffness was the most important amendment after the pretest. Discussion: Feasibility and acceptability of all procedures had to be balanced against their scientific value. Extensive pretesting, training and subsequent refinement of the methods were necessary to assess the feasibility of all instruments and procedures in routine fieldwork and to exchange or modify procedures that would otherwise give invalid or misleading results.
► We investigated taste preferences and their predictors and correlates in European children aged 6–9years. ► Profound cross-country differences in taste preferences were found. ► Sweet and salt ...preference increased with increasing age while umami preference decreased.
The present study investigated taste preferences in a sample of 1705 children aged 6 to 9years from survey centres in Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, and Spain and aimed to identify factors correlated with taste preference. Children’s preferences for varying levels of sucrose (sweet) in apple juice and fat, sodium chloride (salt) and monosodium glutamate (umami) in crackers were assessed using paired-comparison tests. Socio-demographics (age, sex, parental education), early feeding practises (breastfeeding, introduction of fruits), parenting behaviour (TV viewing, using food as a reward) and taste threshold sensitivity for sucrose (sweet), sodium chloride (salt), caffeine (bitter) and monosodium glutamate (umami) were investigated as possible correlates of taste preferences. Parents reported on socio-demographics, early feeding and parenting behaviour. Taste thresholds were determined via a paired-comparison staircase method. Country of residence was the strongest factor related to preferences for all four tastes. Taste preferences also differed by age. Preference for sugar and salt increased between 6 and 9years of age while preference for monosodium glutamate decreased. The age differences remained significant even after adjustment for sex, country of residence, parental education and early feeding habits. Sex, parental education, early feeding habits, TV viewing, using food as a reward and taste thresholds were not consistently related to taste preferences among the survey centres. In summary, the results highlight the importance of culture and age in taste preferences in children younger than 10years of age.
An optical element for direct laser-beam coupling into the observation optic of a rigid endoscope was developed. Using this coupling element every suitable endoscope can be modified into a laser ...endoscope which can be used for laser surgery e.g. in ENT and urology. The requirements for the endoscope and the optical coupling element are discussed.
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