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Nutrition Education and Behavioral Science (Poster Session)

(P16-011-25) Do Sensory-Specific Satiety and Variety Affect Snack Intake in School-Aged Children?

Sunday, June 1, 2025
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM ET
Location: Poster Board C-72

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Paige M. Cunningham, PhD

    Postdoctoral Scholar
    The Pennsylvania State University
    University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • CM

    Cara T. Meehan

    The Pennsylvania State University
    University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

  • KK

    Kathleen L. Keller, PhD

    Associate Professor
    The Pennsylvania State University
    University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

  • BR

    Barbara J. Rolls, PhD

    Professor and Helen A. Guthrie Chair in Nutritional Sciences
    The Pennsylvania State University
    University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

Disclosure(s):
Paige M. Cunningham, PhD: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.


Objectives: Increasing the number of different foods served at a meal increases food intake in children. This variety effect is thought to be driven by sensory-specific satiety (SSS; the hedonic decline in a food as it is eaten, relative to uneaten foods); however, exploration of SSS in children, and how it relates to the variety effect, has been limited.

Methods: In this cohort randomized crossover study, once a week for 2 weeks we served a 2-course snack to 34 children (6-12 y) attending local summer camps. The first course of the snack was a consistent volume (525 ml) of either grapes (0.9 kcal/g) or pretzels (3.9 kcal/g), and the second course was 525 ml of either the same food again (low-variety) or a different food (grapes or pretzels; high-variety). Before and after the first course of the snack, children rated how much they liked 6 foods (the food eaten in the first course + 5 others) using a 100-mm line scale and provided their rank order of wanting for the 6 foods.

Results: The children consumed significantly more weight (123 ± 32 g), energy (66 ± 16 kcal), and volume (177 ± 42 ml) of the second course in the high-variety compared to the low-variety condition (all p< 0.001). This resulted in greater total snack intake in the high-variety compared to the low-variety condition (all p< 0.001). From before to after consumption of the first course, liking decreased more for the eaten food (-4.4 ± 3.5 mm) compared to the mean change for the uneaten foods (+2.0 ± 1.1 mm; p=0.07). Similarly, the eaten food decreased more in ranked wanting (-0.5 ± 0.2 rank) compared to the mean change for uneaten foods (+0.1 ± 0.04 rank; p=0.007).

Conclusions: This suggests that school-aged children experience SSS, as indicated by the relative decline in liking and wanting for the eaten food, and this could explain the increased intake when snack variety was increased.

Funding Sources: This study was supported by an unrestricted gift.