Salty taste acceptance by infants and young children is related to birth weight: longitudinal analysis of infants within the normal birth weight range

Background: Birth weight and sodium intake are both associated with risk for hypertension. It is not known whether birth weight influences response to salty taste. Objective: To assess the relationship between birth weight and salty taste acceptance of infants and young children. Design: Acceptance of salty taste was assessed at 2 (n = 80) and 6 (n = 76) months in infants (birth weight >2.5 kg) enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Acceptance was expressed as proportional intake following 1-min ingestion tests with water and salt solutions (0.17 and 0.34 mol/l NaCl, in water). Birth weight was obtained by maternal report. Questionnaires completed by mothers and food-ranking procedures performed by children evaluated salt liking and preference in a subset (n = 38) of subjects at preschool age (36 or 48 months). Setting: Nonprofit basic research institute in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Results: Regression analysis revealed significant negative associations between birth weight and acceptance of salty taste at 2 months (0.17 mol/l, P < 0.0001; 0.34 mol/l, P < 0.01) but not at 6 months. Relationships were not affected by adjustment for potential confounders. In preschoolers, greater liking of (P < 0.05) and preference for (P < 0.01) salty foods was associated with lower birth weight in simple, but not adjusted, models. Conclusion: Measures related to salty taste preference were inversely related to birth weight over the first 4 years of life. Additional studies should substantiate these findings and explore whether early response to salty taste predicts future sodium intake, blood pressure, or other public health-related outcomes.