Fats and eating behaviour in children.

This paper analyses the place of fats in young children's diet. Firstly, it shows on the one hand the important contribution that fats should have to total dietary intake of children younger than 2 years, because of their interest for neural development and their putative protective effect against the further developement of obesity; on the other hand it underlines the low contribution of fats to total dietary intakes in French children, according to the available data, with a minority of children with adequate fat intake. Secondly, it reports available knowledge regarding the sensory control of fat intake. In newborns and infants, some works have looked at preference for fats and indicate the absence of a fat preference. In children, a higher fat content in foods is sometimes (but not always) associated with a positive effect on liking, often with an optimal content, but it is not associated with a higher intake of the food. High fat content in foods have two effects on eating behaviour learning. In children younger than 3 years, tripling the energy density of a food by adding fat is associated with the development of a conditioned satiation for this food; in older children, doubling the energy density by adding fat is associated with an increase in the liking for the flavours associated with fat. Perspectives for future research are discussed.