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. 2021 Feb 18:12:597704.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.597704. eCollection 2021.

Longitudinal Associations Between Taste Sensitivity, Taste Liking, Dietary Intake and BMI in Adolescents

Afroditi Papantoni  1 , Grace E Shearrer  1   2 , Jennifer R Sadler  1 , Eric Stice  3 , Kyle S Burger  1   2
Affiliations

Longitudinal Associations Between Taste Sensitivity, Taste Liking, Dietary Intake and BMI in Adolescents

Afroditi Papantoni et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Taste sensitivity and liking drive food choices and ingestive behaviors from childhood to adulthood, yet their longitudinal association with dietary intake and BMI is largely understudied. Here, we examined the longitudinal relationship between sugar and fat sensitivity, sugar and fat liking, habitual dietary intake, and BMI percentiles in a sample of 105 healthy-weight adolescents (baseline: BMI %tile 57.0 ± 24.3; age 14-16 years) over a 4-year period. Taste sensitivity was assessed via a triangle fat and sweet taste discrimination test. Taste liking were rated on a visual analog scale for four milkshakes that varied in sugar and fat contents (high-fat/high-sugar (HF/HS), low-fat/high-sugar (LF/HS), high-fat/low-sugar (HF/LS), low-fat/low-sugar (LF/LS) milkshakes). A modified version of the reduced Block Food Frequency Questionnaire (BFFQ) was used to assess dietary intake. All measurements were repeated annually. Repeated measures correlations and linear mixed effects models were used to model the associations between the variables. Sugar sensitivity was negatively associated with liking for the LF/HS milkshake over the 4-year period. Low sugar sensitivity at baseline predicted increases in BMI percentile over time, but this association didn't survive a correction for multiple comparisons. Percent daily intake from fat was positively associated with liking for the HF/HS milkshake and negatively associated with liking for the LF/LS milkshake over 4 years. Together, these results demonstrate that lower sensitivity to sweet taste is linked to increased hedonic response to high-sugar foods and increased energy intake from fat seems to condition adolescents to show increased liking for high-fat/high-sugar foods.

Keywords: adolescents; dietary intake; fat; hedonic ratings; sugar.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Linear relationship between sweet taste sensitivity and taste liking (pleasantness) for the low-fat/high-sugar (LF/HS) milkshake across 4 years.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
(A) Linear relationship between percent daily caloric intake from fat and taste liking (pleasantness) for the high-fat/high-sugar (HF/HS) milkshake. (B) Linear relationship between percent daily caloric intake from fat and taste liking (pleasantness) for the low-fat/low-sugar (LF/LS) milkshake across 4 years.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Linear regression between baseline sweet taste sensitivity and change in BMI percentile over 4 years.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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