Preferences for sweet and salty in 9- to 15-year-old and adult humans.

Preferences for the tastes of sucrose, lactose, and sodium chloride were measured in 618 subjects between 9 and 15 years of age and in 140 adults. The younger subjects preferred greater sweetness and saltiness that did the adults. In the younger groups, there were race and sex differences in preferences, none of which appeared among the adults.