- THURSDAY, Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) — Damage caused by chronic
ear infections in children may alter their sense of taste, making fatty
and sweet foods more desirable and increasing the risk of obesity.

That's the conclusion of four new studies presented Thursday at the
American Psychological Association's annual meeting in Boston.

In the first study, Kathleen Daly, a professor of otolaryngology at the
University of Minnesota, found that “middle ear nerve damage may play a
role in affecting taste in children with recurrent ear infections or
chronic ear disease who get [drainage] tubes. This damage may increase
intake of fattening foods.”

For the study, Daly's team followed children from birth to 2 years of
age who had been treated with tubes for ear infections.

“There was a trend, but not significant, for recurrent ear infection to
lead to overweight,” Daly said. “Other studies have reported a similar
relationship between ear infections and overweight. We did not find
evidence for the reverse hypothesis: larger and heavier children were more
prone to ear infections and tubes than smaller and lighter children.”

In the second study, led by John Hayes of Brown University, researchers
found that among 110 middle-aged women with a sense of taste consistent
with nerve damage, those who preferred sweet and high-fat foods tended to
have larger waists.

“Surprisingly, we found that the single best predictor of body weight
was not how much saturated fat they took in and not how often they ate
high-fat foods, but was how much they liked high-fat and sweet foods,”
Hayes said.

Hayes noted that taste can vary genetically, but also through exposure
to environmental changes. “Particularly with damage to the taste system
and we think this happens from ear infections,” he said.

Another study by Hayes' group found that preschoolers with a history of
severe ear infections ate fewer vegetables, more sweets and tended to be
heavier.

In the third study presented Thursday, led by Howard Hoffman, an
epidemiologist at the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders, researchers found that removing the tonsils had
an effect on whether children would be overweight.

“Taste does have an impact on selection of food and diet,” Hoffman
said. “A tonsillectomy may damage one of the nerves that carry taste
information. In addition, ear infections can also alter taste. Altering
taste does have an effect on the preferences for food,” he said.

Hoffman's team reexamined data on 13,887 children who took part in the
National Health Examination surveys during the 1960s. The researchers
found that children who had had their tonsils removed were at greater risk
of being overweight. Among children aged 6 to 11 who'd had a
tonsillectomy, they were 40 percent more likely to be overweight at the
time of the survey, compared with children who did not have a
tonsillectomy.

What's more, teenage girls who'd had a tonsillectomy were 30 percent
more likely to be overweight, the researchers found. Hoffman noted that
tonsillectomies were a common treatment back in the 60s for chronic ear
infections, which can alter the taste buds and affect eating habits.

“This data is not conclusive, but it's suggestive,” he said.

In the final study, Linda Bartoshuk, of the University of Florida
College of Dentistry, and colleagues collected data on 6,584 people who
attended a lecture series. These men and women, between 16 and 92 years
old, were asked about their history of ear infections. The researchers
found that those with a history of moderate to severe ear infections were
62 percent more likely to be obese.

Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Yale University School of Medicine
Prevention Research Center, thinks that alteration in taste only plays a
small part in the overall obesity epidemic in the United States.

“It certainly makes sense that variations in taste, due to many factors
including a history of ear infections, could influence food preferences,
total food intake and weight,” he said.

However, despite variation in taste perception, variation in dietary
preference, and variation in the history of ear infections, researchers
have projections forecasting all but universal obesity among U.S .adults
within several decades should current trends persist, Katz noted.

“So while the link between taste buds and vulnerability to obesity is
worthy of further exploration, the simple fact is that the entire
population is vulnerable to obesity,” Katz said. “The major causes of the
obesity epidemic reside in the 'obesigenic' environment, rather than on
our tongues.”

More information

For more on obesity, visit the U.S.
National Library of Medicine.