Objective. Flavor is the primary dimension by which young children determine food
acceptance. However, children are not merely miniature adults because sensory systems
mature postnatally and their responses to certain tastes differ markedly from adults. Among
these differences are heightened preferences for sweet-tasting and greater rejection of bitter-
tasting foods. The present study tests the hypothesis that genetic variations in the newly
discovered TAS2R38 taste gene as well as cultural differences are associated with …