Sweetness in a glass: A study on children's sweet preference and sensitivity

Children have a stronger sweet preference than adults have, but at the same time appear to be less able to discriminate sweet intensities. This suggests that beverages do not have to contain as much sugar to be liked by children as long as it is perceived as sweet. In the current study, we tested whether children's ratings of sweetness intensity and liking of two beverages (plain water (A) and sugar-sweetened water (B)) would differ depending on the order in which they were tasted. A total of 255 children (53% girls; M Age = 9.9 & PLUSMN; 2.4) had to identify the taste of 16 Taste Strips. The number of correctly identified tastes indicates how well one can taste. Next, participants tasted two beverages. Beverage A consisted of plain water; beverage B consisted of water sweetened with 10% sucrose. Participants were randomly assigned to group A (beverage A first) or group B (beverage B first). They were asked to rate both beverages on sweetness and liking, using a 9-point scale (1 = not sweet/tasty at all, 9 = very sweet/tasty). Sugar-sweetened water was rated as sweeter when evaluated after drinking plain water first, even when adjusting for individual differences in taste function. There was, however, no significant difference in liking of the sugar-sweetened beverage when it was presented before or after plain water. This indicates that the sugar content in sugar-sweetened beverages can be reduced when these beverages are consumed in the context of non-sweet drinks and perhaps meals.