Foods (Apr 2023)

Investigating the Relationships between Taste Preferences and Beverage Intake in Preadolescents

  • Eva Winzer,
  • Marlies Wallner,
  • Anna Lena Aufschnaiter,
  • Daniela Grach,
  • Christina Lampl,
  • Manuel Schätzer,
  • Barbara Holstein,
  • Maria Wakolbinger

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12081641
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 8
p. 1641

Abstract

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Sugar-sweetened beverages are known promotors of adverse health outcomes. This study aimed to find a relation between taste perception, preferences for beverages, anthropometric parameters, and frequency of beverage consumption. Taste perception of sweetness was tested using an adopted sensitivity test with sucrose and different concentrations of sugar-sweetened apple juice. Furthermore, bitter-compound 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) and salty perception were tested and accompanied by a questionnaire on beverage intake. We did not find a clear relationship between taste perception, anthropometrics, and beverage intake. Nevertheless, in males, the bitter intensity perception of PROP was positively correlated with the BMI percentiles (CDC, r = 0.306, p ≤ 0.043) and the waist circumference (r = 0.326, p = 0.031). Furthermore, the liking of sweet taste (p p p < 0.001). The role of taste perception on anthropometric measures and beverage intake remains unclear and requires further investigation.

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