Shifting Salty Taste Preferences in Children

Salty Taste: Assessing a Strategy to Reduce Children's Preference

The goals of the proposed research are to determine whether repeated exposure to a low sodium food will result in reduced preference for salt in that food among children; and to determine whether such reductions in preference are related to dietary intake of salt, taste receptor genotype, and anthropometric and physiological measures.

This is a within- and between-subjects randomized controlled trial on children consuming either a low sodium or a higher sodium cereal over a 2-month period to determine if repeated exposure to the low sodium cereal is effective for reducing preference for salt in that food. Children will be genotyped for markers related to taste, dietary intake will be recorded, and anthropometric and physiological measures will be collected at baseline.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy
• Willingness to consume no other cereals during intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

• Allergies and/or taking medication that affects taste