Abstract

Oral food perception together with lifestyle may affect food preferences and choices, influencing weight gain and obesity development. The present study was designed to evaluate the association of biological (taste sensitivity) and lifestyle variables with children food preferences, assessing whether all these variables contribute to explain BMI percentile. After anthropometric evaluation, 387 children were classified for bitter and sweet taste sensitivities. Socioeconomic/lifestyle aspects and hedonics for 36 foods were collected. Watching TV during meals associate with lower preference for several vegetables, as well as being sweet taste low sensitive, in the case of girls. Moreover, regression analysis showed that bitter taste sensitivity is one of the variables contributing to explain high BMI percentiles. These results present evidences that both biological and socioeconomic and the attention that is given to food (eating in the presence or absence of distractors) are aspects that should be considered in children nutrition to prevent obesity.

摘要

口腔食物感知与生活方式可能会影响食物偏好和选择，影响体重增加和肥胖症的发展。本研究旨在评估生物学（口味敏感性）和生活方式变量与儿童食物偏好之间的关联，评估所有这些变量是否有助于解释BMI百分位数。人体测量后，对387名儿童的苦味和甜味敏感性进行了分类。收集了36种食物的社会经济/生活方式和享乐主义。吃饭时看电视会降低对几种蔬菜的偏爱，并且对于女孩来说，甜味低敏感。此外，回归分析表明，苦味敏感性是造成BMI百分位数高的变量之一。