A new study published in BMC Nutrition examines how a preference for sweet tastes and different eating behaviors affect diet quality and sugar consumption.
Sweet Tooth May Signal Unhealthy Habits
From infancy, people generally enjoy sweet flavors, but how much sweetness a person prefers varies widely. Interestingly, researchers found no direct link between a strong preference for sweet foods and the actual amount of added sugar consumed.
The study focused on three types of eating behaviors: uncontrolled eating, emotional eating, and cognitive restraint. Uncontrolled eaters tend to overeat, emotional eaters eat when stressed, and those with cognitive restraint try to control their food intake to manage their weight.
People who preferred very sweet tastes were more likely to show uncontrolled or emotional eating patterns. In contrast, those with moderate or low sweetness preference often practiced cognitive restraint. Emotional eating was also associated with poorer diet quality.
Lower Diet Quality Tied to More Added Sugar
Consuming more added sugar typically lowers diet quality, as measured by the Healthy Eating Index (HEI). However, people who dislike sweets can still have a poor diet if they consume too much salt or saturated fat.
Study Details
The study included 65 adults between 18 and 42 years old. Participants were grouped based on their preference for sweetness—dislikers, moderate likers, and strong likers—using their responses to foods with varying sucrose levels. Researchers also looked at their snack choices, eating behaviors, and overall diet quality.
Snacks, which often fall outside traditional meals, make up over 20% of the average American’s daily calorie and refined carb intake. This study focused on how snack choices reflect sweet preferences and eating behaviors.
Key Findings
Most participants—73%—were overweight or obese, and nearly all (94%) exceeded the recommended intake of added sugar. The average diet quality score was 44.6 out of 100, indicating a moderately healthy diet.
When offered a variety of snacks, most participants—regardless of sweet preference—chose a sweet but low-calorie option. About 42% picked fruit cups, 14% chose brownies, and none selected vegetables. Cultural or ethical factors may have influenced these choices.
People who reported a strong liking for sweets perceived sugar solutions as less sweet than others. They were two to three times more likely to consume foods high in added sugar and were more likely to have lower overall diet quality, except in a small group with high-quality diets. The link between poor diet quality and sweet preference was mainly due to higher sugar intake.
There was no significant difference in sugar intake or diet quality between those with moderate or low sweet preference.
More Than Just Sugar
The study suggests that added sugar is not the only factor affecting diet quality. Researchers recommend more studies to explore how preferences for salty or fatty foods also impact health outcomes.
People who liked sweets—especially those with an extreme preference—were more likely to engage in uncontrolled and emotional eating. These behaviors were also linked to higher body mass index (BMI).
Conclusions
In young adults, a strong preference for sweet tastes was a better predictor of added sugar intake and poor diet quality than eating behavior alone. This could help explain higher obesity rates and related health issues in this group.
Researchers call for larger studies to confirm these results and to include preferences for other food traits like fat or saltiness.
Related topics: