Fat reduction does not affect food preferences of kids

Manipulating the amount of fat in children’s foods could help to reduce energy consumption without reducing taste preferences or liking, according to new research. The study, published in the journal Appetite, reports that reducing the fat contents of foods favoured by children has little effect on their liking of the food or on weight-based food intake, but markedly reduces energy intake and thus “might provide a means of lowering children's energy consumption.”

“Manipulating fat content in familiar foods served at ad libitum meals had little effect on liking and absolute weight-based food intake, but markedly influenced overall energy intake. In the high-fat meal, children consumed almost 60 per cent more calories,” wrote the researchers, led by Dr Kathleen Keller of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, USA.

“If these findings are replicated and tested over a longer time period, manipulating fat content of well-liked, familiar foods could be a way of reducing young children's energy intake and become part of a strategy for preventing obesity ... Manipulating fat content is easily done for most dishes, and can be done by both parents and the food industry,” they added.