Every tenth child does not perceive the taste of food properly, which can lead to dietary changes and promote obesity, says New Scientist.
David Laing from the University of New South Wales in Sydney (Australia) and colleagues tested the taste buds of 432 children aged 8 to 12. They were given a series of drinks with various flavors to drink – containing water with sugar, salt, citric acid or bitter quinine hydrochloride.
After each drink, the children were asked to point to one of the three pictures which they thought best suited the given flavor. One photo showed food with a taste like the drink just drunk, the other photo showed food with a completely different taste. The third photo showed a glass of plain water (in case the drink was judged tasteless).
The experiment was repeated for five different concentrations of each flavor – 40 drinks in total. They were given to the children in a random order – in the meantime, they could rinse their mouths with water. Taste disturbance was diagnosed when the child was unable to correctly associate the drink with a photo in the case of three out of five concentration. Scientists were surprised that 41 children – or 9,5 percent – faced such difficulties. Two-thirds of these 41 children had difficulty tasting sweet. The disturbances are probably irreversible.
According to Liang, dysgeusia can have a variety of causes – including kidney failure, diabetes, and especially middle ear infections. In Australian studies, dysgeusia was more common in Aboriginal children who are more likely to develop ear infections.
The research of Seung Geun Yeo from Kyung Hee University in Seoul also points to this reason – he found a clear link between otitis media and the difference between salty and sweet tastes in 42 children. This is likely to be due to damage to a nerve called the tympanic cord (chorda tympani) that passes through the inner ear. Taste disturbances were often accompanied by obesity. It is possible that taste disturbed people are more likely to choose unhealthy foods. Or else obese children get otitis more easily and lose their sense of taste.