Abstract
Food neophobia, the reluctance to taste novel food, is an adaptive food behavior in evolutionary terms with survival advantages. When measured by the declarative Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) it appears as a personality and heritable trait, thus susceptible to reduce the food repertory and to limit food variety consumption. Inducing changes in food neophobia would eventually overcome this risk. Furthermore, we know that PROP (6-n –propylthiouracil, a bitter chemical substance) sensitivity is genetically determined and can be used as a marker for food preference: greater PROP sensitivity is linked to a reduced consumption of vegetable and fruit consumption – as the foods taste bitter – which has health implications, and could lead to obesity. One study has shown a relationship between PROP sensitivity of Tunisian adults and their preferences and attitudes toward food. We investigated a possible mediation of taste acuity, (assessed using recognition thresholds for sucrose, citric acid, sodium chloride, and PROP) and supra-threshold perceived intensities for these substances on food preferences (assessed by food familiarity and liking questionnaire on different food categories) and FNS (assessed by using the FNS score) in the context of a 10-month residential weight reduction session (WRS) in massively obese adolescents. Taste acuity appeared to mediate behavioral food-related changes during the WRS. High taste acuity was associated with limited reduction in food neophobia whereas less sensitive subjects showed greater increase in the acceptability of healthy foods – especially fruits and vegetables – and greater reduction in food neophobia. Therefore, taste perception (and particularly PROP perception) appears to predict the magnitude of food-related behavioral change achieved during a WRS. A possible relation and/or superimposed effect of food neophobia and PROP sensitivity on food preference and food use are discussed. Application of these findings will be taken into consideration to start a diet program for obese subjects.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Abbreviations
- BMI:
-
Body mass index
- CDC:
-
Centre for Disease Control
- FFLQ:
-
Food familiarity and liking questionnaire
- FNS:
-
Food neophobia scale
- LAM scale:
-
Labeled affective magnitude scale
- LTT:
-
Low-threshold tasters
- MTT:
-
Medium-threshold tasters
- NT:
-
Nontasters
- PROP:
-
6-n-propylthiouracil
- PTC:
-
Phenylthiocarbamide
- T1, T2:
-
Beginning and end of the WRS
- VAS:
-
Visual analog scale
- WRS:
-
Weight reduction session
References
Bartoshuk LM. Chem Senses. 2000;25:447–60.
Bell KI, Tepper BJ. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;84:245–51.
Blakeslee AF. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1932;18:120–30.
Centre for Disease Control and Prevention/National Centre for Health Statistics. CDC growth charts: The United States. Hyattsville: Department of Health and Human Services; 2000.
Chiva M. Le doux et l’amer: Sensation gustative, émotion et communication chez le jeune enfant. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France; 1985.
Cooke LJ, Haworth CMA, Wardle J. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;86:428–33.
Dinehart ME, Hayes JE, Bartoshuk LM, Lanier SL, Duffy VB. Physiol Behav. 2006;87:304–13.
Dovey TM, Staples PA, Gibson EL, Halford CG. Appetite. 2008;50:181–93.
Dong D, Jones G, Zhang S. BMC Evol Biol. 2009;9:12.
Drewnowski A. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;72:1424–35.
Drewnowski A, Rock CL. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995;62:506–11.
Fisher R, Griffin F, England S, Garn SM. Nature. 1961;191:1328.
Fischer R, Griffin F, Kaplan, AR. Med Exp. 1963;9:151–67.
Fischer R, Knopp W, Griffin F. Drug Res. 1965;15:1379–82.
Falciglia GA, Couch SC, Gribble LS, Pabst SM, Frank R. J Am Diet Assoc. 2000;100:1474–81.
Galloway AT, Lee Y, Birch LL. J Am Diet Assoc. 2003;103:692–8.
Goldstein GL, Daun H, Tepper BJ. Obes Res. 2005;13:1017–23.
Hladik, C. M. (1988) — Seasonal Variations in Food Supply for Wild Primates. In : I. de Garine et G. A. Harrison (Eds.), Coping with Uncertainty in Food Supply. Clarendon Press, Oxford : 1–25.
Hladik CM, Simmen B. Evol Anthropol. 1996;5:58–71.
Hladik CM, In: I. de Garine et G. A Harison (eds.) Coping with Uncertainity in food supply. 1988;1–25.
Hladik CM, Pasquet P, Simmen B. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2002;117:342–8.
Hladik CM, Pasquet P, Danilova V, Hellekant G. CR Palevol. 2003;2:281–7.
Hung HC, Joshipura KJ, Jiang R, Hu FB, Hunter D, Smith-Warner SA, Colditz GA, Rosner B, Spiegelman D, Willett WC. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004;96:1577–84.
Hong J-H, Chung J-W, Kim Y-K, Chung S-C, Lee S-W, Kho H-S. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2005;99:711–715
Kim U-K, Wooding S, Riaz N, Lynn B, Jorde LB, Drayna D. Chem Senses. 2006;31:599–611.
Knaapila A, Tuorila H, Silventoinen K, Keskitalo K, Kallela M, Wessman M, Peltonen L, Cherkas L F, Spector TD, Perola M. Physiol Behav. 2007;91:573–8.
Liu RH. J Nutr. 2004;134:3479S–85S.
McAnally HM, Poulton R, Hancox RJ, Prescott J, Welch D. Appetite. 2007;49:700–3.
Mascie-Taylor CGN, McManus IC, MacLarnon AM, Lanigan PM. Behav Genet. 1983;13:191–6.
Monneuse MO, Bellisle F, Louis-Sylvestre J. Physiol Behav. 1991;50:1111–7.
Monneuse MO, Rigal N, Frelut ML, Hladik CM, Marez A, Simmen B, Pasquet P. Appetite. 2008;50:302–7.
Montmayeur JP, Matsunami H. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2002;12:366–71.
Nicklaus S, Boggio V, Chabanet C, Issanchou S. Appetite. 2005;44:289–97.
Pasquet P, Monneuse MO, Frelut ML, Simmen B, Hladik CM. Intern J Ped Obes. 2007;2:242–8.
Pasquet P, Oberti B, El Ati J, Hladik CM. Appetite. 2002;39:167–73.
Pliner P, Hobden K. Appetite. 1992;19:105–20.
Pliner P, Salvy SJ. In: Shepherd R, Raats M, editors. The psychology of food choice. Oxfordshire: CABI Publishing; 2006p. 75–92.
Potts HW, Wardle J. Appetite. 1998;30:79–92.
Reedy FE, Bartoshuk LM, Miller IJ, Duffy VB, Yanagisawa K. Chem Senses. 1993;18:619.
Reed DR, Tanaka T McDaniela AH. Physiol Behav. 2006;88:215–26.
Reverdy C, Chesnel F, Schlich P, Koster EP, Lange C. Appetite. 2008;51:156–65.
Rigal N, Frelut ML, Monneuse MO, Hladik CM, Simmen B, Pasquet P. Appetite. 2006;46:207–14.
Rozin P, Vollmecke TA. Annu Rev Nutr. 1986;6:433–56.
Simchen U, Koebnick C, Hoyer S, Issanchou S, Zunft HJF. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2006;60:698–705.
Simmen B, Pasquet P, Hladik CM. In: Macbeth H, MacClancy J, editor. Researching food habits: methods and problems. Oxford: Berghahn Books; 2004. p. 87–99.
Skinner JD, Carruth BR, Bounds W, Ziegler PJ, Reidy K. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2002;34:310–5.
Tepper BJ. Am J Hum Genet. 1998;63:1271–6.
Tepper BJ, Koelliker Y, Zhao L, Ullrich NV, Lanzara C, d’Adamo P, Ferrara A, Ulivi S, Esposito L, Gasparini P. Obesity. 2008;16:2289–95.
Turnbull B, Matisoo-Smith E. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002;76:1101–5.
Ullrich NV, Touger-Decker R, O’Sullivan-Maillet J, Tepper BJ. J Am Diet Assoc. 2004;104:543–9.
Yeomans MR, Mobini S, Chambers LC.Physiol Behav. 2007;92:831–839.
Wooding S. Genetics. 2006;172:2015–23.
Zhao L, Kirlmeyer SV, Tepper BJ. Physiol Behav. 2003;78:625–33.
Acknowledgments
We are indebted to ML Frelut and N Rigal without whom this study couldn’t have been made.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Monneuse, MO., Hladik, C.M., Simmen, B., Pasquet, P. (2011). Changes in Food Neophobia and Food Preferences During a Weight Reduction Session: Influence of Taste Acuity on the Individual Trajectory. In: Preedy, V., Watson, R., Martin, C. (eds) Handbook of Behavior, Food and Nutrition. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-92271-3_111
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-92271-3_111
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-92270-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-92271-3
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)