Adolescent acceptance of different foods by obesity status and by sex

Abstract

This work investigated possible differences in food preference between obese and normal-weight adolescents, as well as between female and male seventh-grade pupils (average age = 13.1 years). Survey of affinities for nine food groups was determined with a facial hedonic scale. The children were divided according to their BMI into normal-weight and obese group, respectively. In this sample of adolescents, we could not find any proof for the theory of increased preference for fattening foods by obese compared to normal-weight people. In fact, our normal-weight group showed greater liking of sweets, meat, and cereals than the obese group. Normal-weight boys also preferred meat and sweets more than normal-weight girls. We consider psychological and social factors (e.g., perception of ideal body shape or social stigmatism of obesity) as the most logical explanations for the observed differences. Further research should clarify whether food preference plays a significant role in the etiology of adolescent obesity.