Assessment of liking for saltiness, sweetness and fattiness sensations in children: Validation of a questionnaire

The objective of this study was to perform an internal validation of a questionnaire assessing 7-12 years old children's liking for saltiness, sweetness and fattiness in foods. An 83-item questionnaire validated in adults was adapted for children via vocabulary adaptation, picture addition and removal of little known or consumed items. It was launched online, and a paper version was also available. The construct validity was evaluated in 500 French children aged 7-12 y. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to identify the factor structure within each sensation. The adult liking factor structure was also tested on the children's data to compare the factor structures between adults and children. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to validate the factor structure. Finally, a bootstrap analysis was performed to ensure the stability of the structure. Liking for saltiness, sweetness, fattiness-and-saltiness and fattiness-and-sweetness sensations showed meaningful factor structures. After the deletion of some items, a one-factor structure was identified for the liking for saltiness (9 items), and multiple-factor structures were identified for the liking for sweetness (16 items), fattiness-and-saltiness (22 items), and fattiness-and-sweetness (16 items). A fattiness model was estimated based on two subscales, the fattiness-and-saltiness and fattiness-and-sweetness subscales. This self-administered questionnaire, available on line or on paper, enables the creation of a factor structure for saltiness, sweetness, fattiness-and-saltiness, fattiness-and-sweetness, and fattiness liking in children. This questionnaire represents the first self-administered tool designed to assess children's liking for sweetness, saltiness and fattiness sensations in large cohorts.