Shifting Salty Taste Preferences in Children

Development Clinical Trial

Official title:

Salty Taste: Assessing a Strategy to Reduce Children's Preference

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02909764
• Other study ID #: 823281
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 2016
• Est. completion date: December 2016

Study information

• Verified date: September 2019
• Source: Monell Chemical Senses Center
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goals of the proposed research are to determine whether repeated exposure to a low sodium food will result in reduced preference for salt in that food among children; and to determine whether such reductions in preference are related to dietary intake of salt, taste receptor genotype, and anthropometric and physiological measures.

Description:

This is a within- and between-subjects randomized controlled trial on children consuming either a low sodium or a higher sodium cereal over a 2-month period to determine if repeated exposure to the low sodium cereal is effective for reducing preference for salt in that food. Children will be genotyped for markers related to taste, dietary intake will be recorded, and anthropometric and physiological measures will be collected at baseline.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 39
• Est. completion date: December 2016
• Est. primary completion date: August 2016
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 7 Years to 65 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy

• Willingness to consume no other cereals during intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

• Allergies and/or taking medication that affects taste

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Development

Intervention

Other:
• Low Sodium Group
Breakfast Cereal

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Monell Chemical Senses Center	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Monell Chemical Senses Center

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Most Preferred Level of Salt Taste	Children were presented with pairs of broths with varying concentrations of added salt (0.16, 0.24, 0.38, 0.61, 1.05 M) (17) . The first pair of broths (0.24 and 0.61 M salt) presented were from the middle range of concentrations. Children were instructed to taste each sample within a pair for 5 seconds, to rinse between tastings, and then to point to the sample they liked better. Each subsequent pair of samples contained the concentration selected by the participant paired with an adjacent stimulus concentration. This pattern continued until the child either chose the same concentration when paired with both a lower and higher concentration in two consecutive pairs or chose either the highest or the lowest concentration twice consecutively. The entire task was repeated a, with stimulus pairs presented in reverse order. The geometric mean of the two concentrations chosen in the first and second series was calculated to determine most preferred levels of salt.	Baseline (time 0) and after 8-week intervention
Primary	Relative Preference for Regular vs Low Sodium Cereal	The number of children who preferred the taste of the low salt cereal when compared to the regular sodium cereal	At baseline and after 8-week intervention
Secondary	Salt Taste Detection Thresholds	Detection thresholds (the lowest level of salt detect by taste) were measured via a two-alternative forced-choice procedure	Baseline and after 8-week intervention
Secondary	Most Preferred Level of Sucrose	Children were presented with pairs of sucrose solutions of varying concentrations (0.09, 0.18, 0.35, 0.70, 1.05 M). The first pair presented were from the middle range of concentrations. Children tasted each sample and then pointed to the sample they liked better. Each subsequent pair of samples presented contained the concentration selected by the child paired with an adjacent stimulus concentration. This pattern continued until the child either chose the same concentration when paired with both a lower and higher concentration in two consecutive pairs or chose either the highest or the lowest concentration twice consecutively. The entire task was repeated after a 3-minute break, with stimulus pairs presented in reverse order. The geometric mean of the two concentrations chosen in the first and second series was calculated to determine the most preferred levels of sucrose.	At baseline and after 8-week intervention
Secondary	Intake of Cereal During Intervention Period	Mothers recorded the amount of cereal their children ingested during 28 days of the 8-week, at-home intervention period.	28 days
Secondary	Blood Pressure	Blood pressure (mmHg) was measured by using an automatic blood pressure machine with pediatric cuff. Blood pressure will be measured at baseline (time 0). There were no a priori hypothesis but were collected as baseline characteristic to ensure no differences between the groups.	Baseline