Chem. Senses 28: 173-180,
2003
© Oxford University Press 2003
RESEARCH PAPERS |
Heightened Sour Preferences During Childhood
Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3308, USA
Correspondence to be sent to: Julie A. Mennella, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3308, USA. e-mail: mennella{at}monell.org
Abstract
Basic research has revealed that the chemical sensory world of children is different from that of adults, as evidenced by their heightened preferences for sweet and salty tastes. However, little is known about the ontogeny of sour taste preferences, despite the growing market of extreme sour candies. The present study investigated whether the level of sourness most preferred in a food matrix and the ability to discriminate differences in sour intensity differed between 5- to 9-year-old children and their mothers, by using a rank-by-elimination procedure embedded in the context of a game. Mothers also completed a variety of questionnaires and children were asked several questions to assess whether children's temperament and food preferences and habits related to sour preferences. The results indicated that, although every mother and all but two of the children (92%) were able to rank the gelatins from most to least sour, more than one-third (35%) of the children, but virtually none of the adults, preferred the high levels of sour taste (0.25 M citric acid) in gelatin. Those children who preferred the extreme sour tastes were significantly less food neophobic (P < 0.05) and tended to experience a greater variety of fruits when compared with the remaining children (P = 0.11). Moreover, the children's preference for sour tastes generalized to other foods, such as candies and lemons, as reported by both children and mothers. These findings are the first experimental evidence to demonstrate that sour taste preferences are heightened during childhood and that such preferences are related to children's food habits and preferences. Further research is needed to unfold the relationship between the level of sour taste preferred and the actual consumption of sour-tasting foods and flavors in children.
Key words: children, taste preferences, sour taste, food neophobia, picky eating, nutrition
Introduction
I will add that formerly it looked to me as if the sense of taste, at least with my own children when they were still very young, was different from the adult sense of taste; this shows itself by the fact that they did not refuse rhubarb with some sugar and milk which is for us an abominable disgusting mixture and by the fact that they strongly preferred the most sour and tart fruits, as for instance unripe gooseberries and Holz apples. (Darwin, 1877)
Charles Darwin (Darwin,
1877) keenly observed that children live in different chemical
sensory worlds than adults, as evidenced by their heightened preference for
sweet and sour tasting foods. Although basic research confirmed his
observations on sweet preferences a century later
(Peiper, 1963;
Nisbett and Gurwitz, 1970;
Maller and Desor, 1973;
Desor et al., 1975;
Steiner, 1977;
Enns et al., 1979;
Desor and Beauchamp, 1987),
little scientific investigation has focused on the ontogeny of sour taste
preferences (Desor et al.,
1975; Zandstra and De Graaf,
1998). In spite of this paucity of basic research, industry has
clearly found a niche in children for extreme sour candies, which are reported
to be quite aversive to adults
(Frauenfelder, 1999).
Some contend that children's preference for extreme sour tastes is
secondary to their desire for adventure, thrills and excesses
(Frauenfelder, 1999;
Urbick, 2000), of which these
products supposedly provide. To our knowledge, there are no published reports
on whether aspects of temperament or attitudes toward foods, in general,
relate to children's preferences for sour tastes. However, a study on adults
revealed that those who experienced greater dietary diversity preferred higher
levels of sour intensity when compared with food neophobic adults
(Frank and van der Klauw,
1994).
The present study aimed to test the hypotheses that children prefer higher levels of sourness in foods when compared with adults, and that such preferences are positively related to their willingness to try new foods and experience with dietary diversity. A rank-by-elimination and randomized order procedure, embedded in the context of a game, was used to assess sour preferences as well as the ability to discriminate differences in sour intensity in 5- to 9-year-old children. The mothers of these children were also tested using identical procedures in order to determine sour preferences in an adult population. Mothers also completed a variety of questionnaires and children were asked whether they had ever tried sour-flavored candies, to determine whether personality factors, such as temperament and attitudes towards or experience with foods in general, contribute to preferences for sour taste and flavors.
Materials and methods
Subjects
Mothers were recruited from advertisements in local newspapers. The mothers (31 Caucasian, 26 African American, 1 Asian and 3 from other ethnic groups) were, on average, 37.8 ± 0.7 years of age, and their children (29 girls, 32 boys) ranged in age from 5 to 9 years (mean = 7.4 ± 0.2 years). During a telephone interview, the mother, who was not informed of the hypothesis of the study, was told that she and her child would participate in a `taste study' in which they would be asked to taste different flavored gelatins. Seven additional children began, but did not complete, testing because they could not understand the task. All children were reported by their mothers to be healthy at the time of testing. The testing procedures were approved by the Office of Regulatory Affairs at the University of Pennsylvania. Informed consent was obtained from each parent and assent was obtained from each child who was eight years of age or older.
General procedures and stimuli
Children and their mothers were individually tested at the Monell Center in
a closed room specifically designed for sensory testing, with a high
air-turnover ventilation system. After subjects acclimated to the room and
personnel, we assessed their preferences for sourness. To this end, four
lemon-flavored gelatins were made by either adding no citric acid (0.00 M) or
different concentrations of citric acid (0.02, 0.08 and 0.25 M; Sigma Chemical
Co., St Louis, MO) to 22 g of a stock gelatin dissolved in 473.2 g of water
(JELL-OTM, Kraft Foods, Inc., Rye Brook, NY). It should be noted that the
stock gelatin has a sweet taste because it contains 
0.24 M sucrose and
0.30 M glucose (First Data Bank, Inc, San Bruno, CA). Twenty milliliters of
each gelatin was poured into a 30 ml clear medicine cups (Delaware Valley
Surgical Supply, Boothwyn, PA) and refrigerated for at least 4 h to obtain
firmness. During testing, the gelatins were stored on a tray containing
crushed ice.
Preference rankings methods
An age appropriate, game-like task that was fun for children and minimized
the impact of language development was used to examine sour preferences. Using
a rank-byelimination and randomized ordered procedure
(Birch, 1979), subjects tasted
each of the four gelatins and were asked to point to the one that they liked
best. This gelatin was then removed after which subjects were asked to taste
the remaining three gelatins again and then indicate which of the three was
most preferred. This procedure continued until a rank order preference was
established. To determine reliability, subjects were presented, in
counterbalanced order, the gelatins ranked as their two most preferred and
were asked to point to which of the pair they liked best. Subjects rinsed
their mouth twice with bottled water after tasting each gelatin.
Intensity rankings methods
A second test session was conducted 7.0 ± 0.5 weeks later to
determine whether subjects could distinguish the different intensities of sour
taste in the gelatins. We randomly selected 24 children (10 boys, 14 girls)
and their mothers from those who participated in the first session. Before
testing, each subject was trained to distinguish three of the basic tastes:
sweet (0.30 M glucose; Sigma), salty (0.30 M Na gluconate; Sigma) and sour
(0.01 M citric acid; Sigma). Subjects were then given three pairs of solutions
that differed in sour intensity and were asked to focus only on sour taste and
to point to which of the pair tasted more sour, rinsing their mouths twice
after tasting each sample. All subjects were able to perform this task.
After a five-minute break during which subjects were offered an unsalted cracker and a cup of water to cleanse their palate, they were asked to rank the four gelatins used during the first session (0.00, 0.02, 0.08 and 0.25 M added citric acid) from most to least sour. The rank-by-elimination procedure was identical to that described above for the preference test, except here subjects indicated which one tasted most sour. At the end of the test session, subjects were asked to taste, in counterbalanced order, the least (0.00 M added citric acid) and the most sour (0.25 M added citric acid; hereafter referred to as `extreme sour') gelatin. Immediately after tasting each gelatin, subjects were asked to respond in the affirmative or negative to the questions: Does this gelatin taste sweet? Does it taste sour? Subjects rinsed their mouths with water twice between tastings. One child did not understand the task and therefore was excluded.
Food habits, food neophobia and child temperament measures
Without communicating to the child, mothers completed a series of
questionnaires which included a 10-item scale that measured food neophobia
(Pliner and Loewen, 1997) and
a eight-item scale that measured general neophobia in adults
(Pliner and Loewen, 1997), and
a 25-item scale that measured five temperament dimensions (i.e. emotionality,
shyness, activity, sociability and negative reaction to foods in general) in
their children (Pliner and Hobden,
1992). In a few cases, mothers did not answer all questions and
therefore some measures could not be calculated (see
Table 1). Because we were also
interested in assessing the children's reaction to new foods, mothers were
asked to indicate on a 5-point scale (1 = not at all characteristic of the
child; 5 = very characteristic of the child) their agreement with the
statements `My child is afraid to try new foods' and `My child does not trust
new foods' (Pliner and Loewen,
1997), as well as to indicate whether they regarded their child as
a picky eater and whether they were picky eaters as children themselves. We
also asked each mother whether she thought her child went `through a sour
phase' exhibiting strong preferences for sour candies or raw lemons. As a
first step in investigating whether experience with a variety of sour foods
(e.g. fruits) impacts upon children's sour preferences, all but six of the
mothers indicated which of the following fruits their child had experienced at
home during the past week (i.e. grapes, bananas, oranges, pineapple, melon,
apples, apple sauce, pears, apricots, raisins and berries). Children were
asked directly whether they had ever eaten and whether they liked extreme sour
candies such as WarheadsTM (Foreign Candy Company, Hull, IA); all but
three of the children responded to these questions. In addition, all but one
of the children were weighed and measured for height.
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Statistical analyses
Sour taste preference and intensity rankings
The null hypothesis tested was that there were no systematic differences in
children's or mothers' preference ranking of the four gelatins that differed
in citric acid content (i.e. 0.0, 0.02, 0.08 and 0.25 M added citric acid). To
test this, each of the four gelatins was ranked according to subject's
preferences (1 = most preferred; 4 = least preferred). Data obtained from
mothers were analyzed separately from children. Separate Friedman two-way
analyses of ranks were then conducted on these preference ranking scores.
Similar analyses were conducted on the sour intensity ranking scores. When
significant, multiple comparisons were performed to determine which
differences among the gelatins were significant
(Siegel and Castellan, 1988).
To test the reliability, identical responses between test and retest were
defined as reflecting guessing if the proportion was below the upper limit of
the 95% confidence interval for 50% correct responses, the latter being the
predicted proportion if subjects were guessing
(Snedecor and Cochran, 1989).
All summary statistics are expressed as means ± SEM and levels of
significance were P < 0.05.
To investigate whether there were differences in sour taste preferences between children and mothers, the frequencies of subjects who classified the extreme sour tasting gelatin (0.25 M added citric acid) as either their most preferred (ranked 1 or 2; hereafter referred to as high-sour group) or least preferred (ranked 3 or 4; hereafter referred to as low-sour group) were also determined. Chi-square statistics were then performed to determine whether children's preferences differed from adults; the Yates correction for continuity was applied to all chi-square analyses. To determine whether the children's sour preferences were related to their mothers' sour preferences, Kendall tau correlations were calculated for each child–mother pair.
Subject demographics, child temperament and food habits
One-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to determine whether
there were significant differences between the groups (High-Sour versus
Low-Sour) on a variety of measures such as the ages, body mass index (BMI, in
kg/m2) and temperament scores of the children, and the age, and
food and general neophobia scores of the mother. Chi-square analyses with
Yates correction for continuity were performed to determine whether there were
group differences in sex ratio, ethnicity and the proportion of children who
were perceived as picky eaters.
Results
Sour taste preferences
A striking difference emerged between children and their mothers in their
preferences for the extreme sour gelatin. That is, more than one-third (35%)
of the children (High-Sour group), but virtually none of the mothers, ranked
the highest concentration of citric acid (0.25 M added citric acid in gelatin)
as one of their most preferred gelatins [
2(1) = 24.46;
P < 0.0001]. Friedman analyses indicated significant differences
in preference ranking of the four gelatins in both groups of children
[Low-Sour group: Fr(3) = 81.73; P < 0.0001;
High-Sour group: Fr(3) = 23.07; P < 0.001] as
well as the mothers [Fr(3) = 127.20; P <
0.00001]. Post-hoc analyses revealed that children in the High-Sour group
ranked the extreme sour gelatin as their most preferred and the least sour
gelatin as their least preferred whereas the exact opposite was true for the
remaining children (Low-Sour group) and mothers
(all P < 0.05)
(see Figure1).
Furthermore, children in the Low-Sour group, as well as adults, preferred the
gelatin containing 0.02 M citric acid more than gelatins containing 0.08 and
0.25 M citric acid, although there were no significant differences in
preference between the gelatin with no added citric acid and that with 0.02 M
citric acid.
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That both groups of children and mothers understood the task is suggested
by the strong agreements between their first and second preference rank
ordering of the gelatins [High-Sour group: 80% (95% confidence limits = 50
± 23%); Low-Sour group: 92% (95% confidence limits = 50 ± 17%);
mothers: 98% (95% confidence limits = 50 ± 13]. No significant
difference in sour preference was observed between children in the Low-Sour
group and mothers [2(1) = 0.04; P = 0.84]. Nor was a
significant relationship observed between mother-child pairs in their
preferences for sour flavors in gelatin (Kendall tau correlation, all
P > 0.30).
Sour intensity rankings
There were significant differences in the intensity ranking scores of the
four gelatins in both groups of children [Low-Sour group:
Fr(3) = 45.00; P < 0.0001; High-Sour group:
Fr(3) = 24.87; P < 0.0001] as well as in
mothers [Fr(3) = 72.00; P < 0.00001]. That is,
every mother and all but two of the children (92%) were able to rank the
gelatins from most to least sour in an errorless fashion thus suggesting that
they perceived the different sour intensities in the gelatins. Furthermore,
every child and adult reported that the 0.25 M citric acid gelatin tasted sour
but the 0.0 M citric acid gelatin did not. Likewise, the majority of subjects
(High-Sour group: 66.7%, n = 6, Low-Sour group: 80%, n = 12,
Adults: 95.8%, n = 23) reported that the 0.0 M citric acid gelatin
tasted sweet. There were no significant differences between the groups
[High-Sour versus Low-Sour group, 2(1) = 0.06; P =
0.81; High-Sour group versus adults, 2(1) = 2.85; P =
0.10; Low-Sour group versus adults, 2(1) = 1.09; P =
0.30].
Subject characteristics, child temperament and food experience
Further analyses were then conducted to determine whether there were
significant differences on any of the measures studied between these High-Sour
and Low-Sour groups of children. Salient characteristics of these two groups
of children and their mothers are listed in the Table. No significant
differences between the groups were observed for the children's ages
[F(1,59) = 0.99; P = 0.32], BMI [F(1,58) = 1.28;
P = 0.26], proportion of girls to boys [2(1) = 0.31;
P = 0.58] and ethnicity [2(3) = 6.61; P =
0.09]; nor was there any difference between the groups in the mothers' age
[F(1,58) = 0.89; P = 0.35], or the mothers' food neophobia
[F(1,59) = 0.74; P = 0.39] and general neophobia
[F(1,59) = 1.94; P = 0.17] scores.
In addition, there were no significant differences in the children's
temperament dimensions of shyness [F(1,59) = 0.25; P =
0.162], emotionality [F(1,58) = 0.10; P = 0.75], sociability
[F(1,59) = 0.53; P = 0.38], activity [F(1,59) =
1.14; P = 0.29] or overall negative reactions to foods
[F(1,58) = 0.32; P = 0.57]. However, mothers of children in
the Low-Sour group were significantly more likely to perceive their child as a
picky eater [2(1) = 4.47; P < 0.05], and were more
likely to agree with the statements `My child is afraid to try new foods'
[F(1,56) = 5.11; P < 0.05] and `My child does not trust
new foods' [F(1,56) = 6.02; P < 0.05] when compared with
those in the High-Sour group. In addition, mothers who reported that their
child was a picky eater tended to be more likely to report that they
themselves were considered picky eaters when they were children
[2(1) = 3.41; P < 0.06]. Furthermore, mothers who
were considered picky eaters when they were children were more likely to be
food neophobic as adults [F(1, 57) = 10.68; P < 0.001]
when compared with mothers who were not considered picky eaters as
children.
Those children who preferred the extreme sour flavor in gelatins, as
assessed in the laboratory, were significantly more likely to report not only
that they had tried sour candies [2(1) = 4.65; P =
0.03], but they liked their taste as well [2(1) = 7.02;
P < 0.008]. That such sour preferences generalized to other foods
is suggested by the findings that mothers of children in the High-Sour group
were significantly more likely to report that their child had gone, or was
going through, a phase of preferring sour foods such as lemons or candies
[2(1) = 3.76; P < 0.05], and tended to report
that, at least in the home, their child experienced a larger variety of fruits
during the last week when compared with the Low-Sour group [F(1,53) =
2.59; P < 0.11].
Discussion
The present study demonstrated, as Darwin
(Darwin, 1877) observed 125
years ago, that some children have heightened sour preferences when compared
with adults. One-third of the 5- to 9-year-old children, but virtually none of
the mothers, preferred extremely sour tastes in a novel context, that is,
sour-flavored gelatin. Their preferences increased with increasing levels of
citric acid. The remaining children exhibited the adult pattern such that
preferences decreased with increasing levels of citric acid, a finding that is
consistent with previous research on both young adults (Moskowitz et
al., 1975,
1976;
Chauhan and Hawrysh, 1988) and
the elderly (Murphy and Withee,
1986; Chauhan and Hawrysh,
1988). Those children who preferred the extreme sour tastes were
less food neophobic and tended to experience a greater variety of fruits, as
reported by their mothers, when compared with the remaining children.
Moreover, the children's preferences for sour tastes generalized to other
foods, such as candies and lemons, as reported by both children and mothers,
and were not related to their mothers' sour taste preferences.
Three hypotheses, not mutually exclusive, could account for the differences
in sour preferences within children and between children and adults. First,
perhaps children who preferred the extreme sour taste could not discriminate
between the different sour gelatins when compared with the other children and
adults (Oram et al.,
2001). However, this seems highly unlikely for several reasons.
First, the vast majority of the children were able to rank the gelatins from
most to least sour in an errorless fashion. Secondly, children's ranking of
the gelatins from most to least preferred was found to be a reliable measure,
regardless of the level of sour most preferred. Thirdly, children, like
adults, recognized the sour taste components in a complex food matrix such as
gelatin. Nevertheless, additional research is needed to determine whether the
two groups of children perceived sour tastes differently
(Enns et al., 1979;
James et al.,
1997).
A second hypothesis, and one that is popular in the marketing field, is
that children's preferences for sour tastes are secondary to their generalized
preferences for adventure and thrills
(Frauenfelder, 1999;
Urbick, 2000). To our
knowledge, there is no scientific basis for such claims. It is unknown whether
children who have heightened preferences for sour tastes generalize this
preference to other senses, such as vision (e.g. bright colors) and hearing
(e.g. loud noises), or other tastes (e.g. sweet). However, previous research
in our laboratory revealed that preference for extreme sour taste in children
was not related to heightened sweet preferences
(Liem and Mennella, 2002).
Although the present study did not measure thrill-seeking behavior or sensory
reactivity per se, children who preferred extreme sour tastes did not
differ significantly from the other children in a variety of temperament
dimensions, such as shyness, emotionality or sociability. What appears to be
significant is the degree of adventure as it relates to new foods, however.
That is, like adults (Frank and van der
Klauw, 1994), children who preferred extreme sour tastes were less
food neophobic and less likely to be perceived as picky eaters by their
mothers.
Perhaps individuals who are less food neophobic were more likely to
experience extremely sour foods and, after repeated exposure, developed
preferences for such flavors (Birch and
Marlin, 1982; Birch et
al., 1998; Pliner and
Stallberg-White, 2000). Consistent with this suggestion is the
finding that children who preferred the extreme sour tastes in the gelatin
(High-Sour group) were significantly more likely to try extreme sour candy
such as WarheadsTM, and to report that they liked the flavor of these
candies when compared with the Low-Sour group. Therefore, we hypothesize that
children who preferred extreme sour tastes are not only more likely to
try extreme sour foods but they continue to eat such foods and
subsequently develop a preference for extremely sour flavors.
This hypothesis is consistent with previous research on adults
(Moskowitz et al.,
1975) and children (Liem and
Mennella, 2002; Mennella and
Beauchamp, 2002) that revealed that repeated exposure to sour
flavors may lead to subsequent preferences. Children who were fed a formula
that has a sour and bitter flavor component (i.e. protein hydrolysate
formulas) during their infancy preferred sour-flavored juices significantly
more than did children who were not exposed to such formulas
(Mennella and Beauchamp,
2002). Because no differences were observed in their sweet
preferences, the effect of early experience appeared to be specific to sour
tastes. Of interest is the finding that Indian laborers, whose diet consists
of many sour foods, such as tamarind fruits, preferred higher levels of citric
acid in water when compared with those living in Western populations whose
diet had less of an emphasis on sour foods
(Moskowitz et al.,
1975).
The present study revealed that children who preferred extreme sour candies such as WarheadsTM were significantly more likely to prefer the extreme sour tastes in gelatins. It should be noted that the methods used to assess preference for gelatins (i.e. rank-by-elimination procedures) are limited because the determined level of preferences is relative to the other stimuli presented. However, we emphasize that children in the High-Sour group also reported that they preferred a variety of other sour-flavored food items thus suggesting that these children indeed preferred sour taste.
Whether the heightened sour preference for these sour tasting candies and
food exhibited in one-third of the children decreases with age is unknown. Nor
do we know whether the preference for sour tastes is due to repeated exposure
to these extreme sour candies, which were introduced into the American market
during the past decade (Frauenfelder,
1999). However, Darwin's description of his children's preference
for tart apples (Darwin, 1877)
and the report by mothers in the present study that their children went
through a sour phase (e.g. preferred lemons) suggest that the heightened sour
preferences during childhood can be expressed via a variety of sour-tasting
foods, not just candies.
An alternative explanation is that the effects of experience with sour
foods may be secondary to effects of experience with dietary diversity since
the present study also revealed that children who preferred extreme sour
tastes tended to experience a larger variety of fruits. Of interest is the
recent finding that children who are food neophobic consume a diet consisting
of less dietary variety when compared with children who do not exhibit such
behavior (Carruth et al.,
1998; Falciglia et
al., 2000). That dietary diversity enhances acceptance of new
foods has been demonstrated in human infants
(Gerrish and Mennella, 2001)
as well as animal models (Capretta et
al., 1975). In young children, dietary diversity is
determined, in part, by the availability of foods provided by their caretakers
and dietary patterns and attitudes towards foods are largely influenced by
mothers (Klesges et al.,
1991; Fisher et al.,
2002). In particular, fruit and vegetable intake by young children
is positively related to parental fruit and vegetable intake
(Fisher et al.,
2002). The present study revealed that mothers, who reported being
picky eaters as children, tended to view their own children as picky eaters
and food neophobic. Whether such mothers are providing less dietary diversity,
which, in turn, is related to their children's sour preferences and
consumption of sour tasting foods, is unknown.
A third, and not mutually exclusive, hypothesis is that there are ontogenic
changes in taste perception, independent of experience, that underlie the
heightened sour preferences in some children. Responsiveness to salt and sweet
tastes provides perhaps the clearest example of a developmental change to
taste stimuli that occurs postnatally
(Desor et al., 1975;
Beauchamp and Cowart, 1987;
Mennella, 1999). Although
human newborns are indifferent to salt taste, preference for salt emerges at
4–6 months of age, remains heightened throughout childhood and
adolescence, and then decreases to levels resembling that of the adult during
late adolescence (Desor et al.,
1975). The shift from indifference to preference is thought to be
largely unlearned and due to postnatal maturation of central and/or peripheral
mechanisms underlying salt taste perception, as suggested in animal model
studies (Hill and Mistretta,
1990). Like salt taste, preferences for sweet tastes remain
heightened during infancy and childhood and decrease to levels resembling that
of the adult during late adolescence
(Beauchamp and Cowart, 1987).
That heightened sweet preferences during development has been observed in
animal model studies (Bertino and Wehmer,
1981) suggested that experience with sweets during ontogeny cannot
exclusively account for this decline in sweet preference
(Beauchamp and Cowart,
1987).
Although the mechanisms underlying these age-related changes in sweet and
salt preferences during late adolescence remain unknown, we suggest that
similar age-related changes may be occurring for sour taste in some children.
In adults, the perception of sour is related, but not exclusively, to pH and
salivary flow (Norris et al.,
1984; Christensen et
al., 1987; Spielman,
1990). That is, adults with high salivary flow rates and pH rated
sour stimuli consistently more intense when compared with those with lower
salivary flow rates and pH (Norris et
al., 1984). This elevation in perceived intensity is
presumably due to the greater contrast between the pH of the stimulus and
individual's salivary pH. Whether the enhanced sour preferences observed in
some children is related to differences in these physiological measures
remains to be determined. Moreover, longitudinal studies on sour preferences,
like those conducted on the ontogeny of sweet and salt taste preferences, are
needed.
The findings of the present study further support the contention that
children are living in different chemical sensory worlds when compared with
each other as well as to adults. Such differences in sensory preferences may
play a role in acceptance of and preference for certain foods and flavors.
Previous research suggests that sensory preferences and experiences with foods
are better predictors of fruit and vegetable consumption in children than the
foods' nutritional content or social value
(Resnicow et al.,
1997). Consideration of the relationship between the level of sour
taste preferred and actual consumption of sour-tasting foods and flavors is an
important area for future research.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the expert technical assistance of Mr Brian Pollack and the student apprentices Ms Mayla Henderson and Ms Kelly Walker, whose research apprenticeships were supported by grants from The Annenberg Foundation and Mrs Patricia Kind. This work was supported by grant HD37119 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The research reported in this paper was completed as part of the first author's dissertation in the Department of Human Nutrition and Epidemiology, Wageningen University, The Netherlands.
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Accepted December 18, 2002
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