Preference for Sweet Taste among Female College Students – A Questionnaire Survey (Part 1)

Abstract

  A questionnaire survey was conducted on 1,235 female college students majoring in food science or textile science to clarify their preference for sweet taste. About 70％ of the students indicated that they were fond of sweet taste (sweet tooth group), while the remaining 30％ were not (non-sweet tooth group). The sweet tooth group showed a stronger tendency to regard sweets as essential in their eating habits, to crave for sweets even on a full stomach, and to have family members with sweet tooths, compared to the non-sweet tooth group. The sweet tooth group had a stronger fondness for sweets in their childhood compared to the non-sweet tooth group. We performed a multiple regression analysis defining the recognition of having a sweet tooth as the objective variable. Consequently, eating sweets as an essential eating habit was the strongest explanatory variable, followed by a craving for sweets on a full stomach, having family members with sweet tooths and having a fondness for soft drinks.