Effects of age on sensory-specific satiety.

The effects of age on sensory-specific satiety were investigated in adolescents (aged 12-15 y), young adults (22-35 y), older adults (45-60 y), and elderly subjects (65-82 y) (n = 24 per group). Subjects rated the pleasantness of the sensory properties and their desire to eat five foods and then ate either a fixed amount (300 g) or as much as they wanted of one of the foods (yogurt) and rerated the foods. No differences in food intake were found between the 300-g and the ad libitum experiments or among the age groups. Compared with the other age groups, elderly subjects did not show a decrease in the pleasantness of the taste of the eaten food compared with the uneaten foods in either experiment nor did the pleasantness of the texture or the desire to eat the yogurt decrease significantly in elderly subjects in the 300-g experiment. Sensory-specific satiety was pronounced in the adolescents and diminished in the elderly people.