Taste buds less sensitive in obese

Children and adolescents who are obese may have less sensitive taste buds than do youths of normal weight, according to new research.

In a study conducted in Germany and published last week in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, simple taste tests were administered to 99 obese children and 94 youths of normal weight. Each of the young people, who ranged in age from 6 to 18, tasted 22 strips of paper that had been treated with varying concentrations of substances associated with the five known qualities of taste: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (savory). Participants were asked to identify which of the five qualities the strip represented. A perfect score of 20 would indicate that the taster correctly identified each of the five qualities at four levels of intensity. (Two of the strips had no flavor.)

The obese youths had more trouble discerning tastes than the others did: The average score among the obese children was 12.6, compared with 14 among the normal-weight youths. Individual scores ranged from 2 to 19. The obese children had particular trouble identifying salty, umami and bitter tastes.

That lack of sensitivity might help govern children’s food choices, the study suggests, perhaps steering them away from more healthful foods that their palates perceive as less satisfying and prompting them to consume greater quantities of certain foods to achieve a desired taste sensation.

A better understanding of this phenomenon might lead to new approaches to combatting childhood obesity, the study concludes.