Sensory Capacities and Eating Behavior: Intriguing Results from a Large Cohort of Italian Individuals

• Published in: Foods Vol. 11; no. 5; p. 735
• Main Authors: Concas, Maria Pina, Morgan, Anna, Tesolin, Paola, Santin, Aurora, Girotto, Giorgia, Gasparini, Paolo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 02.03.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: adults; Aging; Alcohol; Alcoholic beverages; Beverages; Complex systems; Eating; Eating behavior; Educational attainment; educational status; equations; fish; Food; food adventurousness; food liking; Food science; health status; hearing; Lifestyles; males; Malnutrition; Multivariate statistical analysis; Nutrition; Personal information; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Regression models; Risk analysis; Risk factors; Senses; sensory capacities; Sensory systems; smell; Smoking; Statistical analysis; Structural equation modeling; Taste; Tasting tests; Weight control; Italy; conditional recursive partitioning analysis; food liking; structural equation modelling; sensory capacities; taste; hearing; smell; food adventurousness
• ISSN: 2304-8158; 2304-8158
• DOI: 10.3390/foods11050735

Eating behavior (EB) is a complex system influenced by many factors, but an undisputed role is played by the senses. In this work, we examined the effect of the sensory capacities on EB in 1152 Italian adult individuals. After administering a questionnaire on EB and assessing sensory performance through standard audiometric, olfactory, and taste tests, the prevalence of reduced sensory capacities (RSCs) and the correlation with selected risk factors were calculated. Regression models, structural equation modelling, and conditional recursive partitioning were used to investigate the relationship between variables. Around 70% of the subjects show reduced capacities in at least one sense, with taste being the most prevalent (55.21%). Male sex, aging, and low educational level are risk factors for RSCs. The increased number of senses with reduced capacities is a predictor of diminished food adventurousness and lower liking for vegetables, fish, and alcoholic beverages, while reduced capacities (RCs) in taste is a predictor of lower liking for alcoholic beverages and sweets. Overall, in addition to providing an overall picture of RSCs in Italian samples, our study reveals the association of RSCs with EB variables. This finding could have a relevant role in influencing individuals’ dietary habits and, therefore, health status.