Children's taste gene influence food choices

08/02/05 Variation in a taste receptor gene influences taste sensitivity of children and adults, accounting for individual differences in taste preferences and food selection, report a team of researchers from the Monell Chemical Senses Center. In addition to genes, age and culture also contribute to taste preferences, at times overriding the influence of genetics.

The findings may help to explain why some children are more attracted to sweet-tasting foods, as well as why taste and food preferences appear to change with age.

In the study, to be published in the February 2005 issue of Pediatrics, researchers compared taste sensitivity and food-related behaviors across three genotypes of the TAS2R38 gene, which encodes a taste receptor responsive to bitter taste.

The Monell Chemical Senses Center is a nonprofit basic research institute based in Philadelphia, PA. Scientists at the Monell Center conduct research devoted to understanding the senses of taste, smell, and chemical irritation: how they function and how they affect our lives, from before birth through old age. The Center's approach is multidisciplinary. Scientists from a variety of backgrounds collaborate to address topic areas in sensation and perception, neuroscience and molecular biology, environmental and occupational health, nutrition and appetite, health and well being, and chemical ecology and communication.

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