Relative Validity of a Food and Beverage Preference Questionnaire to Characterize Taste Phenotypes in Children Adolescents and Adults

Nutrients. 2019 Jun 27;11(7):1453. doi: 10.3390/nu11071453.

Abstract

To assess the relative validity of our food and beverage preference questionnaire we investigated the association between sweet and fatty taste preference scores (assessed using a food and beverage preference questionnaire) and sweet and fatty food propensity scores (derived from a food frequency questionnaire). In I.Family, a large European multi-country cohort study, 12,207 participants from Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and Sweden, including 5291 adults, 3082 adolescents, and 3834 children, completed a food and beverage preference questionnaire with 63 items. Cumulative preference scores for sweet and fatty taste were calculated from the single item ranking ranging from 1 to 5. The relative consumption frequency of foods classified as sweet and fatty was used to calculate the corresponding consumption propensities, a continuous variable ranging from 0 to 100. We conducted regression analyses to investigate the association between sweet and fatty taste preference scores and sweet and fatty food propensity scores, respectively, separately for adults, adolescents ≥12 years, and for children <12 years. The overall sweet taste preference score was positively associated with the sweet food consumption propensity score (β = 2.4, 95% CI: 2.1;2.7) and the fatty taste preference score was positively associated with the fatty food consumption propensity score (β = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.8;2.2). After stratification for age (children <12 years, adolescents ≥12 years, and adults), the effect remained significant in all age groups and was strongest in adolescents and adults. We conclude that our food and beverage preference questionnaire is a useful instrument for epidemiological studies on sensory perception and health outcomes and for the characterization of sensory taste phenotypes.

Keywords: European children; adolescents; adults; taste preference questionnaire; validation.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior*
  • Age Factors
  • Beverages*
  • Child
  • Child Behavior*
  • Europe
  • Feeding Behavior*
  • Food*
  • Humans
  • Phenotype
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*
  • Taste Perception*
  • Taste*