Determinants of obesity in Italian adults : the role of taste sensitivity, food liking, and food neophobia

Recent evidence has suggested that factors related to sensory perception may explain excess weight. The objective of this study was to consider multiple aspects while investigating the phenomenon of obesity. One goal was to compare taste acuity (taste threshold and density of fungiform papillae) in both normal weight and obese subjects. Thresholds for 4 basic tastes and the fat stimulus were investigated. A second research goal was to study the relationship between food neophobia and food liking according to the body mass index and taste sensitivity. The results showed that obese subjects seem to have higher threshold values and a reduced number of fungiform papillae than do normal weight subjects. Food neophobia did not vary with nutritional status, whereas differences were found for food liking, with obese subjects showing significantly higher liking ratings for high energy dense products compared with normal weight subjects.