Salty taste acceptance by infants and young children is related to birth weight: longitudinal analysis of infants within the normal birth weight range.
BACKGROUND
Birth weight and sodium intake are both associated with risk for hypertension. It is not known whether birth weight influences response to salty taste.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the relationship between birth weight and salty taste acceptance of infants and young children.


METHODS
Acceptance of salty taste was assessed at 2 (n = 80) and 6 (n = 76) months in infants (birth weight >2.5 kg) enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Acceptance was expressed as proportional intake following 1-min ingestion tests with water and salt solutions (0.17 and 0.34 mol/l NaCl, in water). Birth weight was obtained by maternal report. Questionnaires completed by mothers and food-ranking procedures performed by children evaluated salt liking and preference in a subset (n = 38) of subjects at preschool age (36 or 48 months).


METHODS
Nonprofit basic research institute in Philadelphia, PA, USA.


RESULTS
Regression analysis revealed significant negative associations between birth weight and acceptance of salty taste at 2 months (0.17 mol/l, P < 0.0001; 0.34 mol/l, P < 0.01) but not at 6 months. Relationships were not affected by adjustment for potential confounders. In preschoolers, greater liking of (P < 0.05) and preference for (P < 0.01) salty foods was associated with lower birth weight in simple, but not adjusted, models.


CONCLUSIONS
Measures related to salty taste preference were inversely related to birth weight over the first 4 years of life. Additional studies should substantiate these findings and explore whether early response to salty taste predicts future sodium intake, blood pressure, or other public health-related outcomes.


BACKGROUND
National Institutes of Health (DC 00882).
Stein
L J
LJ
Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. stein@monell.org
Cowart
B J
BJ
Beauchamp
G K
GK
D001724:Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*
D012965:Sodium Chloride