Ear infections are a common but very painful aspect of childhood, experienced by more than 5 million children each year.  New scientific evidence from Florida suggests that chronic ear infections during childhood increase the chance of becoming obese later in life.  The effect of these infections on the primary taste nerve, which runs through the middle ear, is thought to be the influencing factor.

The chorda tympani nerve, the major nerve associated with the sense of taste, travels through the middle ear before entering the brain.  When this nerve is damaged, the sense of taste is diminished but other sensory aspects of food become heightened in the absence of taste.

People with damage to the taste nerve say the sensation of eating fatty foods is highly desirable, a situation that often leads to a preference for high-fat foods and excessive weight gain as a result of eating such calorie-dense foods.  Sweets, such as cookies and milk chocolate, are also highly desired foods when the taste nerve is damaged.

Describing the findings of her study like all the pieces of a puzzle falling into place, Linda Bartoshuk, PhD, an expert on the sense of taste and genetic variations relating to taste perception at the University of Florida College of Dentistry, says this particular influence on one’s tendency toward obesity is environmental, not genetic, and can be stopped before obesity becomes an issue.

Bartoshuk began her study in 1993, gathering questionnaires from at least 6,500 people whose ages ranged from 16 to 92.  Some of them had history of ear infections but others did not.

As they aged, people in the study who reported history of ear infections classified as moderate to severe gained weight much faster than study participants who’d never had an ear infection.  Of the study participants 30 years of age and older and with a history of ear infections, 51% were clinically overweight or obese, compared to just 39% of those with no history of ear infection.

In addition, 14% more of the group with a history of ear infection liked milk chocolate and cookies than the group without the history of earaches.  High-fat foods, such as butter and mayonnaise, were preferred by 18% more of the ear-infection group than those free of chronic ear infections.

Bartoshuk presented the findings of her study at the August 14 annual meeting, in Boston, of the American Psychological Association.

Source: University of Florida