The impact of a sensory education on gustatory and olfactory perception in Austrian school children aged 11–14 – A consideration of short-term effects

Abstract

Sensory education has the potential to activate chemosensory awareness in children and may lead to them developing healthier and more balanced eating habits. The increasing evidence for the effectiveness of a sensory based education was mainly shown in studies with primary school children. As there is a lack of data with older children of mandatory school age, this study focused on pupils aged 11–14. Therefore, 258 children from four secondary schools in Austria were selected for a trial with the purpose to evaluate the impact of a sensory education program, which was integrated in the school subject nutrition and household. The study was structured into 5 sections and included a sensory training over a period of 6 months for one part of the study population (education group) and the evaluation of gustatory and olfactory perception (all participants) at different times (baseline and follow up 1–3). The data obtained from the baseline investigation demonstrates low taste and smell identification abilities of the evaluated Austrian school children and was an essential information for planning an effective sensory training. The results from follow up 1 showed an improvement of gustatory (p < 0.001) and olfactory perception due to the school-based sensory interventions.