Effects of age and gender on adolescents' food habits and preferences

This study explored food habits and preferences of 222 French adolescents of 10 to 20 years old. They completed a questionnaire about their eating habits and quoted 10 of their favourite and IO of their most disliked foods or beverages. They also mentioned any change in their preferences. These results show that food habits and tastes are mostly related to age and gender. Girls pay more attention to dietetics and snack less than boys. Young adolescents prefer bland and familiar foods whereas older ones learn to appreciate 'adult' foods. As they grow older, children snack more, skip more meals and seem more interested in foreign foods. Before puberty teenagers reject many foods they Previously liked. After puberty they begin to appreciate some foods they didn't like before. Their food repertoire widens at this period because of social and cognitive influences. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd