Associations between taste sensitivity, preference for sweet and salty flavours, and nutritional status of adolescents from public schools

SANTOS, Marize Melo dos; MARREIROS, Camila Santos; SILVA, Herika Brenda Santana da; OLIVEIRA, Ana Raquel Soares de; CRUZ, Kyria Jayanne Clímaco

doi:10.1590/1678-98652017000300009

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Sumário

ORIGINAL ARTICLES • Rev. Nutr. 30 (03) • May-Jun 2017 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-98652017000300009 copy

Associations between taste sensitivity, preference for sweet and salty flavours, and nutritional status of adolescents from public schools

Associação entre sensibilidade gustativa, preferência aos sabores doce e salgado e estado nutricional de adolescentes

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the associations between taste sensitivity, preference for sweet and salty flavours, and nutritional status of adolescents in public schools.

Methods

We used a cross-sectional study involving 1,036 adolescents of both sexes, aged 10-19 years. Preference for sweet or salty flavours and preference for foods high in sugar or sodium were evaluated. Measurements of body mass index and taste flavour intensity recognition were conducted.

Results

Most participants were unable to identify the flavours and/or intensities, and only 18.0% of participants were able to correctly identify both the flavour and intensity of the samples. Most participants (82.1%) preferring sweet foods had low sensitivity to this taste, just as a large proportion of individuals preferring saltiness (82.3%) were less sensitive to salt (p<0.001). Preference for saltiness was associated with pre-obesity.

Conclusion

We found an association between a preference for sweet or salty flavours and nutritional status, highlighting the importance of poor food choices in the development of obesity and other chronic diseases.

Keywords:
Adolescents; Nutritional status; Taste perception

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[1] Correspondência para/Correspondence to: MM SANTOS. E-mail: <marizesantos@ufpi.edu.br>.

Variable	Male			Female
Variable	n	%^†	p	n	%^†	p
Taste and intensity test (sweet)
Approved	111	28.1	<0.001^*	120	26.5	<0.001^*
Disapproved	284	71.9	<0.001^*	332	73.5	<0.001^*
Taste and intensity test (salty)
Approved	89	22.5	<0.001^*	128	28.3	<0.001^*
Disapproved	306	77.5	<0.001^*	324	71.7	<0.001^*
Taste sensitivity
Taste correctly identified, intensity incorrectly identified	171	35.7	<0.001^*	213	38.4	<0.001^*
Taste and intensity incorrectly identified	223	46.6		236	42.6
Taste and intensity correctly identified	85	17.7		105	19.0

Food preference	Taste sensitivity
	Sweet					Salty
	Approved		Disapproved		p ^*	Approved		Disapproved		p ^*
	n	%	n	%	p ^*	n	%	n	%	p ^*
Sweet	81	17.9	371	82.1	<0.001	147	32.5	305	67.5	<0.001
Salty	150	38.0	245	62.0		70	17.7	325	82.3

Nutritional status	Flavour preference				p ^*
	Sweet		Salty
	n	%^†	n	%^†
Thinness	34	60.7	22	39.3	0.002^*
Normal range	411	55.4	331	44.6
Pre-obesity	60	39.0	94	61.0
Obesity	45	53.6	39	46.4

Nutritional status	Taste sensitivity
	Sweet					Salty
	Approved		Disapproved		p ^*	Approved		Disapproved		p ^*
	n	%^†	n	%^†	p ^*	n	%^†	n	%^†	p ^*
Thinness	17	37.0	29	63.0	0.263	6	13.0	40	87.0	0.041
Normal range	156	25.6	454	74.4		173	28.3	439	71.7
Pre-obesity	37	30.3	85	69.7		26	21.3	96	78.7
Obesity	21	30.4	48	69.6		14	20.3	55	79.7

Foods	Preference or rejection
Foods	n	%^†	p ^*
Brigadeiro
Like	797	77.0	<0.001
Dislike	238	23.0	<0.001
Hamburger
Like	766	73.9	<0.001
Dislike	270	26.1	<0.001
Ham
Like	592	57.3	<0.001
Dislike	441	42.7	<0.001
Soda
Like	852	82.2	<0.001
Dislike	184	17.8	<0.001
Popcorn
Like	652	62.9	<0.001
Dislike	384	37.1	<0.001
Pizza
Like	916	88.4	<0.001
Dislike	120	11.6	<0.001
Stuffed cookies
Like	719	69.4	<0.001
Dislike	317	30.6	<0.001
Hot dog
Like	779	75.2	<0.001
Dislike	257	24.8	<0.001