Chronic ear infections in children could cause a loss of sensitivity to sweet and salty tastes and lead to obesity, reports a new study published in the Archives of Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery.
Researchers at Kyung Hee University in South Korea looked at the taste sensitivities of 42 children between the ages of 3 and 7 who had a tympanostomy tube inserted to treat chronic otitis media with effusion – a serious infection of the middle ear.
They compared those taste test results to 42 children who did not have the condition, and found that the children with chronic otitis media had significantly diminished thresholds for sweet and salty tastes, although there was little to no difference in detecting sour or bitter tastes.
Researchers wrote that the children’s reduced capacity to sense sweet and salty may result in an "excessive intake of calories and liquids, increasing fat deposition and fluid retention and ultimately resulting in obesity.”
Doctors speculate the deterioration of the chorda tympani nerve due to inflammation of the middle ear may cause a diminished sense of taste.