Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
NUTRIENTS, cilt.17, sa.19, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Background: Childhood obesity is a growing public health challenge, with altered taste perception potentially influencing food choices and contributing to weight gain. Objective: To determine detection thresholds for linoleic acid (fat taste) and sucrose (sweet taste) in children aged 6-12 years, and to explore associations with obesity, dietary intake, and food preferences. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 100 Tunisian children (mean age: 8.05 +/- 1.44 years; 54% girls; 45 obese, 55 non-obese) were recruited from an educational support center in Nabeul. Taste sensitivity was evaluated using the 3-alternative forced choice (3-AFC) method with ascending concentrations of linoleic acid (0.018-12.0 mM) for fat taste and sucrose (0.00125-0.32 mol/L) for sweet taste. Participants were categorized as tasters or non-tasters based on detection thresholds. Anthropometric measurements, 24 h dietary recalls, food frequency questionnaires, and food preference assessments were also conducted. Results: Low taste sensitivity was common (93% for sweet, 49% for fat). Girls were more often fat tasters than boys (68.6% vs. 31.4%, p = 0.003). Children with obesity had higher fat taste thresholds (median 3.00 mM, range 0.37-12.0) than non-obese peers (median 1.50 mM, range 0.018-6.0; p = 0.012), indicating reduced fat taste sensitivity. Linear regression showed a significant positive association between fat taste threshold and BMI (p = 0.001), meaning higher detection thresholds corresponded to higher BMI. Sweet taste thresholds did not differ significantly between children with and without obesity (p = 0.731). Sweet non-tasters consumed more sucrose (85.9 +/- 64.9 g/d vs. 70.3 +/- 62.3 g/d; p = 0.033) and reported more frequent table sugar use (p = 0.047). Fat non-tasters consumed more magnesium (425 +/- 414 mg/d vs. 287 +/- 60.8 mg/d; p = 0.026) and fiber (22.9 +/- 7.51 g/d vs. 20.3 +/- 5.32 g/d; p = 0.048) and reported higher intake frequencies of cheese (p = 0.039), sour cream (p = 0.004), and fast food (p = 0.012). Food preferences reflected similar patterns, with non-tasters generally rating high-fat or high-sugar foods more favorably. While most children demonstrated high detection thresholds, girls showed significantly higher fat taste sensitivity compared to boys (p = 0.03). Children with obesity exhibited significantly higher fat taste detection thresholds compared to non-obese children (p = 0.012), with thresholds ranging from 0.37 to 12.0 mM versus 0.018 to 6.0 mM, respectively. No significant difference was observed for sweet taste perception between weight groups (p = 0.731). Conclusions: Nearly half of the children exhibited reduced fat taste sensitivity, which was moderately associated with obesity and positively linked to BMI.