Kids' Obesity Linked to Ear Infections (HealthDay)

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

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

In the first study, Kathleen Daly, a professor of otolaryngology at theUniversity of Minnesota, found that "middle earnerve damage may play arole in affecting taste in children with recurrent ear infections orchronic ear disease who get [drainage] tubes. This damage may increaseintake of fattening foods."

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

"There was a trend, but not significant, for recurrent ear infection tolead to overweight," Daly said. "Other studies have reported a similarrelationship between ear infections and overweight. We did not findevidence for the reverse hypothesis: larger and heavier children were moreprone to ear infections and tubes than smaller and lighter children."

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

"Surprisingly, we found that the single best predictor of body weightwas not how much saturated fat they took in and not how often they atehigh-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 exposureto environmental changes. "Particularly with damage to the taste systemand we think this happens from ear infections," he said.

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

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

"Taste does have an impact on selection of food and diet," Hoffmansaid. "A tonsillectomy may damage one of the nerves that carry tasteinformation. In addition, ear infections can also alter taste. Alteringtaste does have an effect on the preferences for food," he said.

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

What's more, teenage girls who'd had a tonsillectomy were 30 percentmore likely to be overweight, the researchers found. Hoffman noted thattonsillectomies were a common treatment back in the 60s for chronic earinfections, 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 FloridaCollege of Dentistry, and colleagues collected data on 6,584 people whoattended a lecture series. These men and women, between 16 and 92 yearsold, were asked about their history of ear infections. The researchersfound that those with a history of moderate to severe ear infections were62 percent more likely to be obese.

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

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

However, despite variation in taste perception, variation in dietarypreference, and variation in the history of ear infections, researchershave projections forecasting all but universal obesity among U.S .adultswithin several decades should current trends persist, Katz noted.

"So while the link between taste buds and vulnerability to obesity isworthy of further exploration, the simple fact is that the entirepopulation is vulnerable to obesity," Katz said. "The major causes of theobesity epidemic reside in the 'obesigenic' environment, rather than onour tongues."

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