Taste preferences in children: Camille Schwartz searches for new answers

August 17, 2009 On July 3rd, Camille Schwartz presented her doctoral thesis entitled “The dynamic of taste preferences: effects of dietary experiences and impact on appreciation of food products”.

This research, carried out within the FLAVIC research unit (Flavor, Vision and Consumer Behavior) in Dijon, under the supervision of Sophie Nicklaus and Sylvie Issanchou, was developed within the framework of the Vitagora accredited project OPALINE (Observatory of food preferences in newborns and toddlers). This project is unique in the world for its subject matter and scope and has the aim of gaining a greater understanding of the factors explaining the variety of food preferences by the age of two.

Camille Schwartz has in particular been working on the area of “taste reactions” in children. “The first part of my research consisted of observing how babies aged 3, 6, 12 and 20 months appreciate taste solutions (flavored liquids) representing the 5 flavors (sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami) in comparison with plain water. In the second part, I was looking on the one hand to correlate their dietary experiences during the first year and their acceptance of the taste solutions and, on the other hand, to determine if there was a link between the acceptance of the taste solutions and the acceptance of new foods introduced into the child’s diet during the diversification phase (between 5 and 7 months)”, she explains.

Concerning the dynamic of taste preferences, the reactions of babies to the taste solutions evolved during the first year. Indeed, the sweet and salty solutions were the two most preferred, but the preference for the sweet solution compared to water tended to go down whereas the preference for the salty solution clearly increased. “We also observed that there is a large variation in the babies’ reactions to the various flavors during the first year”, she underlines. Later, during the second year, at 20 months, all the flavored solutions are rejected compared to water, except for the sweet solution for which the children in general had no preference.

Concerning the effect of the child’s dietary experiences on their acceptance of the taste solutions in comparison with water, this research showed that the longer the baby is exclusively breastfed, the greater his preference at the age of 6 months will be for umami flavor compared to water. “This comes from the fact that breast milk is about 14 times richer in glutamic acid, of which the umami flavor is composed.”, explains Camille Schwartz. Another observation: foods introduced between 5 and 7 months were mostly accepted.

However, there were differences in appreciation according to the taste profile of the food, vegetables being somewhat more appreciated when they were lightly salted. “We didn’t observe any clear rejections of the most sour or bitter foods, which is an interesting result. More generally, the occasional rejection that we observed did not constitute an obstacle for the introduction of new foods during the phase of dietary diversification. This phase seems to be a favorable period for making children discover different types of food”, she concludes.

Contact
Camille Schwartz
Email : schwartzcamille@yahoo.fr

Source : Agence JFD and Co