Palatability of food as a factor influencing obese and normal-weight children's eating habits

The type and amount of food leftover from school lunches by normal-weight and obese elementary school children was examined for its similarity to the pattern reported by Krassner et al. (1979) in a study of normal-weight and obese college students. In this study 102 observations of children between the ages of 9–11, were taken over eight lunch periods in their school cafeteria. Overall, the normal-weight children left only slightly more food uneaten than did the obese children. However, when food palatability was examined, it was found that normal-weight children left over twice as much palatable food as did obese children. Children did not differ on the amount of unpalatable food left uneaten.

These results suggest that Krassner et al.'s observation that obese adults leave less food on their plates may be extended to children and, further, that like obese adults, obese children may be more influenced by the palatability of food than their normal-weight peers.