Changes in salivary proteome and flavour perception induced by a physical activity program in overweight and obese children

Overweight and obesity in children is growing worldwide at alarming rate, affecting 1/3 of children in WHO European region. This is a matter of concern since an overweight child has a high probability to be an obese adult.

In the case of children, dietary patterns and lifestyle starts to be developed at this age, therefore is essential promote in them healthy habits.

Despite of the relationship between obesity and food consumption habits, it is still unknown how the food preferences can determine eating patterns, and finally body weight, since the way food is perceived in the mouth is decisive for its medium-long term acceptance or rejection.

Regarding this, understanding fundamental aspects of eating behaviour is crucial to develop strategies aimed at promoting healthy diets and preventing obesity.

In the last few years, evidence emerged about the participation of salivary proteome in food oral perception, as salivary proteins can interact with flavour molecules (e.g. aroma compounds). In spite of this, the role of salivary proteome on oral perception is not fully understood yet.

Moreover, saliva presents plasticity, and the levels of salivary proteins may differ with different metabolic or physiological conditions (e.g. obesity), changing also with food intake/dietary habits. As such, more studies are necessary to gain understanding about how salivary proteins may impact flavour perception.

The purpose of this action is to elucidate how salivary proteome could contribute to flavour perception, potentially affecting food choices, and if this impact could vary depending on the body weight and lifestyle. This focusing on children (5-12-years) as a risk group of population for develop obesity.

For that, the research objectives aimed to determine changes in salivary proteome and sensory responsiveness (taste sensitivity and retronasal aroma) induced by a 3-month physical activity program in healthy weight, overweight and obese children from Portugal.