A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Food Perceptions, Food Preferences, Diet Quality, and Health in a Food Desert Campus

Summary

The sensory properties of foods guide food choices and intake, importantly determining nutritional and health status. In communities that have inconsistent access to nutritious foods, such as food deserts, food taste perceptions and preferences have yet to be explored. The purpose of this study was to examine how taster status (supertaster vs. non-taster) and food security status (high or marginal vs. low or very low) influences food taste intensities, food preferences and perceptions, and diet quality in a cohort of students from a food desert campus in the Central Valley of California. Moreover, the complex relationship of socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and sex on cardiometabolic and cognitive health warrants further examination. Two hundred fifty participants (aged 18-24 years) l

Regional applicability

The findings from a Californian food desert campus may have limited direct applicability to United Kingdom contexts, where food access patterns and food culture differ substantially. However, the study's framework examining relationships between food insecurity, taste perception, and diet quality could inform UK research into food poverty and health disparities in structurally disadvantaged communities.

Key measures

Taste intensity ratings for selected fruits, vegetables and nuts; Healthy Eating Index (HEI); anthropometrics; blood glucose; blood pressure; endothelial function (reactive hyperemia index); cognitive function (memory and attention); food preference and perception assessments

Outcomes reported

The study examined how taste status (supertaster vs. non-taster) and food security status influence taste intensity perceptions, food preferences, diet quality (HEI), and cardiometabolic and cognitive health markers in 250 university students aged 18–24 in a food desert campus in the Central Valley of California.

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