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PubMed2002

Children's food preferences: a longitudinal analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To compare children's food preferences longitudinally and identify factors related to food preferences. DESIGN: Mothers completed the Food Preference Questionnaire for children at 2 to 3 years of age (T1), 4 years (T2), and 8 years (T3) and for themselves at T1 and T3. Both groups completed a Food Neophobia Scale at T3. SUBJECTS: 70 child/mother pairs who had participated continuously in the longitudinal study. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Changes in food preferences over time were tested with paired t tests and correlations. Consistency percentages were calculated by summing the consistent matches (like/like) for each food between two time periods. Similarly, concordance percentages were calculated for child/mother pairs by summing the concordant matches for each food. General linear models were developed to identify influences on children's food preferences. RESULTS: Although children liked most foods, the number of liked foods did not change significantly during the 5 to 5.7 years of the study. The strongest predictors of the number of foods liked at age 8 years (R2=0.74) were the number liked at 4 years (P<.0001) and the food neophobia score (P=.0003). Newly tasted foods were more likely to be accepted between T1 and T2 than T2 and T3. Mothers' and children's food preferences were significantly but moderately related. Foods disliked by mothers tended not to be offered to children. APPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: The important role of children's early food preferences is confirmed by this study. Mothers influence children via their own preferences, which may limit foods offered to children.

Aging↗
PubMed1980

Acquisition of food preferences and attitudes to food.

Current knowledge and approaches to the understanding of the acquisition of food likes and dislikes, and attitudes to food (food 'systems'), are discussed. Promising areas for research are indicated. Our present inability to answer basic questions about human food selection and the acquisition of affect hinders attempts to modify food choice, in individuals or cultures.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Role of olfaction in food preference as evaluated in an animal model.

Food preference in individual animals is regulated by brain activity. Two murine model systems for investigating food preference were developed by focusing on fruit juices. In a home-cage, two-bottle test, the volume of apple juice consumed was found to be much larger than that of orange juice. In a two-nozzle "Drinkometer" test, by which each mouse was kept in a 38 cm (W) x 32 cm (D) cage and each drinking event was recorded by an electronic "Drinkometer" device, it was again found that the mice preferred drinking apple juice to orange juice. To elucidate the role of olfaction in this food preference, mice were subjected to an olfactory bulbectomy to remove the olfaction capability. In the home-cage two-bottle test, the preference for apple juice over orange juice was apparent even after the olfactory bulbectomy, indicating that olfaction was not essential for the formation of food preference behavior. In contrast, in the two-nozzle "Drinkometer" test, the preference for apple juice over orange juice was found to be abrogated by this surgery, implying the involvement of olfaction-based memory on food preference behavior.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

The establishment and persistence of food preferences in lambs exposed to selected foods.

Our study determined whether lambs' food preferences developed as a result of exposure to specific foods early in life and whether the presence of the mother affected the development of dietary preferences. In the first experiment, lambs were fed wheat (W) and mountain mahogany (MM) (Cercocarpus montanus) from 50 to 110 d of age. After exposure to W and MM, lambs preferred (P less than .05) W when offered with barley (B) but did not prefer (P greater than .05) MM when offered with serviceberry (SB) (Amelanchier alnifolia), probably because lambs were reluctant to eat mountain mahogany during exposure. Persistence was determined by dividing lambs exposed to W or MM into four groups: 1) continued exposure to W (MM); 2) exposure to B (SB); 3) no further exposure; and 4) exposure to W + B (MM +SB). Preferences for wheat persisted (P less than .05) regardless of the second exposure. In the second experiment, lambs were exposed to W (MM) either alone or with their mothers. Persistence was determined after 21 d of exposure to B (SB). Lambs preferred (P less than .05) W and MM whether they were exposed alone or with their mothers. However, preferences persisted longer in lambs exposed with their mothers. Finally, lambs exposed to either SB or MM with their mothers were later allowed to choose between SB or MM. Lambs strongly preferred (P less than .05) the shrub to which they were exposed early in life.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1990

Heart rate changes during consumption of preferred and non-preferred food under amphetamine treatment.

Heart rate was recorded in five dogs while they ate three kinds of foods varying in preference. Heart rate increased during the initial phase of eating, to the greatest extent with the most preferred food. dl-Amphetamine sulfate (0.2 mg/kg) injected intramuscularly produced a general decrease of heart rate. Nevertheless, the heart rate increase during first period of eating was as great as before treatment. Furthermore, the difference in heart rate increase between the most and least palatable foods was still present, and in some dogs even enhanced. It was concluded that amphetamine at this dose in dogs does not attenuate the hedonic properties of food, but may even intensify them. Therefore, the food intake-reducing effect of amphetamine cannot be due to its suppression of hedonic value of food but is the result of its action on other mechanisms such as hunger drive or control of movement.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed2000

Young children's food preferences: a comparison of three modalities of food stimuli.

Food preferences are widely agreed to be important determinants of eating behaviour in young children. Existing studies of methods of assessing preferences have suggested tasting and ranking foods can generate reliable responses with young children, but there have been few attempts to assess other methods which might provide a more convenient alternative in situations where the use of real foods could be difficult (e.g. outside the laboratory), or tasting could be undesirable (e.g. if there are large numbers of foods, or foods which children would be unwilling to taste). The present study is a comparison of the reliability of preferences measured using: (i) real foods; (ii) food photographs; and (iii) food models, in 3 to 5-year-old children. The results showed that the tasting method produced good results, replicating existing data from U.S. samples. Food photographs came a close second in reliability but food models produced unreliable rankings, especially in the youngest group. Five-year-olds produced significantly more consistent results than the younger children. These results indicate that using real foods as the stimuli produces the most reliable taste preferences with children in this young age range, but photographs may provide a convenient alternative with adequate reliability.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2003

The number of male pups within a litter of NMRI mice is associated with the dam's food preferences late in pregnancy.

Pregnancy related differences in food preferences and food intake are well recognized in animals and humans. Changes in maternal hormonal profiles are supposed to be implicated in such a phenomenon. Since fetal sex hormones are excreted in their dams' bloodstream, they can affect the behaviour of mothers during gestation. We investigated whether there was a relationship between the number of male pups within the litter and food preferences in pregnant mice. In the first experiment we found that, parcelling out the effect of litter size, the number of male fetuses was positively correlated to maternal testosterone levels on pregnancy day (PD)18. In the second experiment we showed an association between the number of males and the consumption of a 0.25% saccharin solution on PD18, controlling for litter size and baseline (before pregnancy) saccharin intake. In the third experiment, mice on PD18 were placed in a test cage and underwent a 1-h binary choice test between two unknown unpalatable diets, a high fat diet (HFD) and a sweet mesh diet (HSD). Results revealed that the number of males was negatively associated with the preference for the HFD at birth. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the behavioural profile of dams can be associated with fetal gender composition.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Altered food preference after cortical infarction: Korean style.

BACKGROUND: Altered food preference or preoccupation with certain food after stroke has been rarely described in the literature. METHODS: We report four Korean patients who developed altered food preference secondary to unilateral cortical infarction. RESULTS: Two patients showed preoccupation with meat such as Pulgogi or Kalbi (roast beef flavored with ingredients), which had not been their preference prior to the occurrence of stroke. All the patients became intolerant to the smell and taste of mackerel, and two disfavored hot Kimchi (cabbage salted with hot pepper). Quantitative taste assessment done in the patients revealed decreased taste perception in a variable pattern along with dysgeusia. Imaging studies showed that the region commonly involved was the frontal opercular area corresponding to the taste cortex. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that strokes involving the taste cortex may produce altered food preference associated with decreased taste sensation.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Food preferences of Spanish children and young people: the enKid study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the profile of food preferences, likes and dislikes of Spanish children and young people and analyse its connection with prevailing food patterns. DESIGN: Cross-sectional population survey. SETTING: Population study. Data were collected at participants' home address. SUBJECTS: Random sample of the Spanish population aged 2-24 y (n=3534; 1629 boys and 1905 girls). INTERVENTIONS: Food preferences, food consumption and practices as well as nutrition-related information were assessed by means of a multiple choice questionnaire. A food preference score was computed considering food items ranked as first, second or third choice within each food group. Data collection was carried out during May 1998-April 2000. RESULTS: Bananas and apples were the fruit items preferred by Spanish children and young people across all age and gender groups. Within the vegetable group tomato sauce and salads, particularly lettuce and tomato salad scored highest, followed by carrots in all age and gender groups. However, 47% (95% confidence interval 46-48%) of the sample reported dislike for vegetables and an additional 5.7% (95% confidence interval 4.9-6.5%) a dislike for fruit. The proportion of individuals with low consumption of vegetables or fruit was significantly higher among those reporting a dislike either for vegetables (chi(2)=127.69; P<0.001); fruit (chi(2)=24.62; P<0.001) or for both groups (chi(2)=81.53; P<0.001). CONCLUSION: There is a significant relationship between the likes/dislikes for fruits and vegetables and usual consumption of this food group among children and young people. Strategies addressed to improve acceptance for this food group should be considered when designing interventions aimed at promoting adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables among children and young people.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Children's food patterns--a review: I. Food preferences and feeding problems.

Many studies of children's food preferences and feeding problems are limited by cultural definition of food preferences, feeding problems, and parental management (32, 40, 51, 59, 90). In general, most samples have been white middle class families with children in nursery school; nutritional adequacy has not been considered; food preferences and feeding problems have not been well defined; and poorly documented observations have been generalized to other or all populations. The results at this level of abstraction do not offer solutions to children's food behavior or begin to unravel the mystery of the role of preferences and problems in predicting food behavior and nutritional status. Although results of studies may vary because of methodology, the greatest problem is the level of abstraction. Some research is beginning to identify more rigorously attributes, dimensions, or factors involved in the formation of children's food patterns, using a broader theoretical framework (29, 33, 34, 47, 63, 64, 66, 68-70). Part II of this article examines food preferences by using a family point of view.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed2002

[Intrapair comparisons of diet and food preference in adult twins].

OBJECTIVES: An investigation was conducted on the influence of genetic and lifestyle factors related to the determination of eating behavior of human beings. The objective was to obtain information about lifestyle factors that may help health professionals intervene in terms of the prevention of diet-related diseases. METHODS: The subjects were 180 pairs of adult twins aged over thirty, comprising of 134 monozygotic (MZ) and 46 dizygotic (DZ) pairs. Every subject was given an interview concerning dietary habits, food preference, food intake, as a part of medical examination. The intake of food containing salt and fat, the intake of food meals, the frequency of daily meals, and the frequency of eating 18 sorts of food were assessed on an individual basis, with a questionnaire on nutrition. The expected and observed values of intrapair concordance rates were calculated, and compared within each zygosity, using the chi-square test. RESULTS: Significant differences between the expected and observed for intrapair concordance rates were shown with monozygotic twins, regarding every category of question. Comparing MZ pairs who had lived apart before their twenties with the other MZ pairs, the latter had a tendency to show significant differences between the expected and observed values of intrapair concordance rate, regarding every category of question. In each case, the observed values were higher than the expected values. CONCLUSIONS: The study implied that both genetic and lifestyle factors influence the determinants of eating behavior of human beings. This finding shows the importance of understanding individual characteristics of food preference and eating behavior for intervention regarding lifestyle factors for prevention of diet-related diseases.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Food preferences in families.

Preferences for a wide variety of foods were examined in families: 77 students, plus their siblings, mothers and fathers, for a total of 241 subjects. The food preferences of family members were more similar than would be expected by chance. However, this occurred entirely in the comparisons between spouses and between female family members. The results also indicated sex and age differences in family members' food preferences. For example, females tended to prefer low-calorie foods more when they were older, while males tended to prefer alcoholic beverages more when they were older. Both males and females showed a greater preference for coffee when they were older. Some of the variance in food preferences can be explained by an individual's family members' food preferences, as well as by the individual's sex and age.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2026

Genome-Wide Association Analyses of Bitter Food Preferences Link Genetic Loci to Sensory and Metabolic Pathways.

BACKGROUND: Genetic variation is implicated in individual preferences for bitter-tasting foods. However, previous studies have focused on candidate genes and limited varieties of bitter-tasting foods and have treated food preference scale responses as continuous data. OBJECTIVES: The present investigation aimed to identify genetic variants associated with preferences for bitter-tasting foods using ordinal multinomial regression models in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). In addition, post-GWAS functional annotation and mapping, genetic correlations, and associations with dietary intake were examined. METHODS: Food preference and genome-wide genotyping data were used from the UK Biobank (n = 125,578). Preference data from Likert scale rankings (from 1 to 9) for 12 individual foods were analyzed using ordinal multinomial regression GWAS. In addition, 1 composite continuous variable was created for preference for cruciferous vegetables as a group and analyzed using a linear mixed-model GWAS to enable the calculation of a polygenic score (PGS) for cruciferous vegetable preference. Convergent validity of GWAS results was assessed with dietary intake data for the same food items in the CARTaGENE cohort (n = 8176). Post-GWAS gene-level and pathway-level association analyses were conducted in MAGMA (Multimarker Analysis of GenoMic Annotation). RESULTS: Forty-six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified for preferences for 11 bitter-tasting foods at a genome-wide significance level (P < 7.14 &#xd7; 10-9). Gene-set analysis for enrichment identified pathways related to caffeine metabolism and bitter taste perception for preference of coffee without sugar and grapefruit, respectively. Genes with higher expression in brain tissues showed stronger genetic associations with cruciferous vegetable preference. The PGS for cruciferous vegetable preference was weakly correlated with intake (r = 0.05, P < 0.0001), but individual SNPs were not associated with intake in a consistent manner. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variation contributes to preferences for bitter-tasting foods among adults, and some links with food intake are detectable. Nevertheless, effect sizes are small and inconsistent, reflecting the multifactorial complexity of food intake.

bitter taste↗
PubMed2004

Role of parents in the determination of the food preferences of children and the development of obesity.

The role of parental behaviour in the development of food preferences is considered. Food preferences develop from genetically determined predispositions to like sweet and salty flavours and to dislike bitter and sour tastes. Particularly towards the second year of life, there is a tendency to avoid novel foods (neophobia). Food aversions can be learnt in one trial if consumption is followed by discomfort. There is a predisposition to learn to like foods with high-energy density. However, from birth genetic predispositions are modified by experience and in this context during the early years parents play a particularly important role. Parental style is a critical factor in the development of food preferences. Children are more likely to eat in emotionally positive atmospheres. Siblings, peers and parents can act as role models to encourage the tasting of novel foods. Repeated exposure to initially disliked foods can breakdown resistance. The offering of low-energy-dense foods allows the child to balance energy intake. Restricting access to particular foods increases rather than decreases preference. Forcing a child to eat a food will decrease the liking for that food. Traditionally, educational strategies have typically involved attempts to impart basic nutritional information. Given the limited ability of information to induce changes in behaviour, an alternative strategy would be to teach parents about child development in the hope that an understanding of the characteristic innate tendencies and developmental stages can be used to teach healthy food preferences.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Social influence on induced food preference in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus).

In this paper, we investigate the role of sociality in changing an induced food preference in captive common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), in the particular case of interactions between animals with contrasting information. After modifying a food preference by making a preferred food unpalatable for pairs of individuals (labelled as conditioned individuals) we recorded food choice under three experimental conditions: pairs interacting (one conditioned pair with one non-conditioned pair); pairs separated (conditioned and non-conditioned pairs by themselves the day after the social condition); control (conditioned and non-conditioned pairs alone). The main results was that only the conditioned individuals modified their food choice, consuming significantly more of the spontaneously preferred food during the pairs interacting and pairs separated conditions, but not during the control condition.

Aging↗
PubMed1983

A clinical note on food preference of individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome: the need for empirical research.

The results have important heuristic value for several reasons. First, they indicate that contrary to popular belief, individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome do indicate a definite and, in fact, consistent food preference. Further, the degree of food preference seems to be related to the level of cognitive ability. Finally, these subjects consistently chose a lesser amount of preferred food over a greater amount of non-preferred food. This finding has many potential implications for contingent dietary management. These results which are contradictory to many reported observations, also indicate the importance of collecting objective data regarding the eating behaviour of this population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Socially transmitted food preferences can be used to study long-term memory in rats.

Immediately after a recently fed rodent demonstrator interacts with a conspecific observer, the observer shows a substantially enhanced preference for whatever food its demonstrator ate. Here we show that (1) influence of a single, 30-min interaction with a demonstrator on an observer's food preference lasts for at least 1 month, and (2) observers interacting on 2 successive days with a demonstrator fed a different diet on each day show significantly enhanced preferences for both diets a month later. Such enduring effects of single, brief interactions between a demonstrator rat and its observer provide an efficient means for studying physiological and behavioral substrates of long-term memory in rodents. Together with the results of previous studies of social influences on food choices of rats, the present results also suggest that rats may use information acquired from conspecifics to identify both toxic and safe foods for many weeks after they have acquired this information.

Animals↗