Salt, Sugar And Fat Preferred By Preschool Kids

And adults, too.

Crap research.

A child's taste preferences begin at home and most often involve salt, sugar and fat. And, researchers say, young kids learn quickly what brands deliver the goods.

In a study of preschoolers ages 3 to 5, involving two separate experiments, researchers found that salt, sugar and fat are what kids most prefer -- and that these children already could equate their taste preferences to brand-name fast-food and soda products.

In a world where salt, sugar and fat have been repeatedly linked to obesity, waiting for children to begin school to learn how to make wise food choices is a poor decision, says T. Bettina Cornwell, a professor of marketing in the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business. Children even are turning to condiments to add these flavors -- and with them calories -- to be sure that the foods they eat match their taste preferences.

"Our findings present a public policy message," Cornwell said. "If we want to pursue intervention, we probably need to start earlier." Parents, she said, need to seriously consider the types of foods they expose their young children to at home and in restaurants. "Repeated exposure builds taste preferences."

This study is stupidity.

You have to ask yourself, why these tasty substances, more specifically the salt and sugar, were introduced into foods to begin with as additives.

I am willing to bet, it was not because some clan/tribe/village preschoolers discovered them and realized how much better food tasted to them when they were added and went around to the adults in order to call a meeting to reveal this find so they could start the commercial venture of adding sugar and salt.

People, or at least an awful big percentage of them, are going to prefer these flavors at any age.

Yep, crap research.

It is not the salt, sugar or fat.

It is Calories in vs. Calories out and self-control (or lack thereof).

No more, no less.