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The development of sweet taste: From biology to hedonics

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Abstract

From the age of 2 years, an American child is more likely to consume a sugar-sweetened product than a fruit or vegetable on any given day—a troubling statistic, given that food preferences are established early in childhood, as well as the strong association between this dietary pattern and increased risk of developing a number of chronic diseases. Here, we review the ontogeny and biopsychology of sweet taste, highlighting how a biological drive to prefer sweetness at high concentrations during childhood, which would have conferred an advantage in environments of scarcity, now predisposes children to overconsume all that is sweet in a modern food system replete with added sugars. We review the power of sweet taste to blunt expressions of pain and mask bad tastes in foods as well as factors that predispose some to consume high-sugar diets, including experiential learning and taste preferences driven in part by genetics. Understanding children’s unique vulnerability to our current food environment, rich in both nutritive and nonnutritive sweeteners, is highlighted as a priority for future research to develop evidence-based strategies to help establish healthy dietary behaviors early in life.

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Acknowledgments

This writing of this manuscript was supported by the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Institutes of Health (NIH) (grants R01 DC011287, P30 DC00117356) and by NIH postdoctoral training grants T32 DC100004-34 and F32 DC15172. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIDCD or NIH. The funding agencies had no role in the design and conduct of the study; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or in the preparation or contents of the manuscript.

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  1. Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-3308, USA

    Julie A. Mennella, Nuala K. Bobowski & Danielle R. Reed

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  1. Julie A. Mennella
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  2. Nuala K. Bobowski
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  3. Danielle R. Reed
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Correspondence to Julie A. Mennella.

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The authors have no conflict of interests to declare. Each is supported by funding provided by National Institutes of Health. Author JAM is supported by NIH grants R01 DC011287, R01 HD37119, and R01 HD072307; author NB is supported by T32 DC100004–34 and F32 DC15172; and author DRR is supported by R01 DC011287 and P30 DC00117356.

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Mennella, J.A., Bobowski, N.K. & Reed, D.R. The development of sweet taste: From biology to hedonics. Rev Endocr Metab Disord 17, 171–178 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11154-016-9360-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11154-016-9360-5

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