Methodological approaches to measure lingual tactile sensitivity in adults and children: association with food neophobia, food texture preferences and consumption

Despite the importance of texture in food product development, few methodological approaches have been developed to measure lingual tactile acuity and little information exists about the comparison between children and adults. The aims of the present study were: to verify the suitability of Von Frey’s filaments and a gratings orientation test in children of different age; to investigate the relationships between lingual tactile sensitivity, preference and eating behavior. 147 children aged 6-13 years and their parents participated in the study, in addition to a separate sample of seventy adults. Participants completed two different tasks: 1) completion of questionnaires 2) lingual tactile assessment using Von Frey’s filaments and a grating orientation test. The results of the study established that gratings enable a better separation of subjects according to their lingual acuity than Von Frey’s filaments. Filaments were not directly correlated with the gratings tool. This finding suggests that the two tools measure different dimensions of lingual tactile sensitivity and that the mechanoreceptors located close to the lingual surface respond differently to the two different stimuli. No age-related differences were found in lingual tactile acuity performance among children and adults. A positive but weak (p<0.05) association between food neophobia and lingual tactile sensitivity was found, supported by multivariate analysis which showed a negative association between sensitivity and preference for hard food. This study reveals a possible link between lingual tactile acuity, food texture preference and food neophobia. Thus, we suggest that early life experiences with texture variety are necessary to encourage children’s acceptance and consumption of foods containing particles.