Infant Dietary Exposures to Sweetness and Fattiness Increase during the First Year of Life and Are Associated with Feeding Practices

International audienceBackground: Taste is a strong determinant of food intake. Previous research has suggested that early taste exposures could influence preferences and later eating behavior, but little is known about the factors related to this.Objectives: The aims of this study were to describe infants' exposure to sweetness and fattiness and to examine whether maternal and infant characteristics and feeding practices are related to these exposures in participants from the OPALINE (Observatoire des Preferences Alimentaires du Nourrisson et de ('Enfant (Observatory of Infant and Child Food Preferences)] cohort study.Methods: Food consumption frequency was assessed with a 7-d food record completed monthly over the first year. Dietary taste exposure was defined by the consumption frequency of each food multiplied by the intensity of its taste, summed over all foods. The daily sweetness exposure (SweetExp) and fattiness exposure (FatExp) were calculated at 3-6, 7-9, and 10-12 mo of age for 268 infants from complementary feeding initiation (CFI) to 12 mo. Associations between taste exposure and potential factors were tested by multiple linear regressions.Results: Both FatExp and SweetExp increased from 3-6 mo to 10-12 mo (mean +/- SD: 7.5 +/- 2.3 to 12.2 +/- 2.5 and 6.8 +/- 2.8 to 14.7 +/- 4.1, respectively). Breastfeeding >= 6 mo duration mo was associated with higher SweetExp at all ages, with a decreasing beta [beta (95% CI): 2.6 (1.8; 3.4) at 3-6 mo and 1.3 (0.1; 2.4) at 10-12 mo]. CFI at