Exposure to a slightly sweet lipid-based nutrient supplement during early life does not increase the level of sweet taste most preferred among 4- to 6-year-old Ghanaian children: follow-up of a randomized controlled trial

Harriet Okronipa; Mary Arimond; Charles D Arnold; Rebecca R Young; Seth Adu-Afarwuah; Solace M Tamakloe; Maku E Ocansey; Sika M Kumordzie; Brietta M Oaks; Julie A Mennella; Kathryn G Dewey

doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqy352

Exposure to a slightly sweet lipid-based nutrient supplement during early life does not increase the level of sweet taste most preferred among 4- to 6-year-old Ghanaian children: follow-up of a randomized controlled trial

Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Apr 1;109(4):1224-1232. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqy352.

Affiliations

¹ Program in International and Community Nutrition, Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA.
² Intake - Center for Dietary Assessment, Washington, DC.
³ Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
⁴ Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI.
⁵ Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA.

Abstract

Background: The impact of feeding a slightly sweet nutrient supplement early in life on later sweet taste preference is unknown.

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that the level of sucrose most preferred by 4-6-y-old children exposed to a slightly sweet lipid-based nutrient supplement (LNS) early in life would not be higher than that of children never exposed to LNS.

Design: We followed up children born to women (n = 1,320) who participated in a randomized trial in Ghana. In one group, LNS was provided to women on a daily basis during pregnancy and the first 6 mo postpartum and to their infants from age 6 to 18 mo (LNS group). The control groups received daily iron and folic acid or multiple micronutrients during pregnancy and the first 6 mo postpartum, with no infant supplementation (non-LNS group). At age 4-6 y, we randomly selected a subsample of children (n = 775) to assess the concentration of sucrose most preferred using the Monell 2-series, forced-choice, paired-comparison tracking procedure. We compared LNS with non-LNS group differences using a noninferiority margin of 5% weight/volume (wt/vol).

Results: Of the 624 children tested, most (61%) provided reliable responses. Among all children, the mean ± SD sucrose solution most preferred (% wt/vol) was 14.6 ± 8.6 (LNS group 14.9 ± 8.7; non-LNS group 14.2 ± 8.4). However, among children with reliable responses, it was 17.0 ± 10.2 (LNS group 17.5 ± 10.4; non-LNS group 16.5 ± 10.0). The upper level of the 95% CI of the difference between groups did not exceed the noninferiority margin in either the full sample or those with reliable responses, indicating that the LNS group did not have a higher sweet preference than the non-LNS group.

Conclusion: Exposure to a slightly sweet nutrient supplement early in life did not increase the level of sweet taste most preferred during childhood. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00970866.

Keywords: Ghana; Monell forced-choice test; children; lipid-based nutrient supplement; sweet taste preference.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Food Preferences*
Ghana
Humans
Infant
Infant Food / analysis
Lipid Metabolism
Male
Nutrients / metabolism*
Sucrose / metabolism*
Taste

Substances

Sucrose

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT00970866