OBJECTIVE: Olfactory preference emerges very early in life, and the sense of smell in children rapidly develops until the second decade of life. It is still unclear whether hedonic perception of odors is shared in children inhabiting different regions of the globe. METHODS: Five-hundred ten healthy children (N = 510; ngirls = 256; nboys = 254) aged from 5 to 8 years from 18 countries rated the pleasantness of 17 odors. RESULTS: The hedonic perception of odors in children aged between 5 and 8 years was rather consistent across 18 countries and mainly driven by the qualities of an odor and the overall ability of children to label odorants. CONCLUSION: Conclusions from this study, being a secondary analysis, are limited to the presented set of odors that were initially selected for the development of U-Sniff test and present null findings for the cross-cultural variability in hedonic perception of odors across 18 countries. These two major issues should be addressed in the future to either contradict or replicate the results presented herewith. This research lays fundament for posing further research questions about the developmental aspects of hedonic perception of odors and opens a new door for investigating cross-cultural differences in chemosensory perception of children.

2nd Otorhinolaryngology Department of Aristotle University Thessaloniki Greece

Abteilung Neuropädiatrie Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus Technische Universität Dresden Germany; Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Center for Chronically Sick Children Berlin Germany

Abteilung Neuropädiatrie Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus Technische Universität Dresden Germany; Klinik und Poliklinik für Kinder und Jugendheilkunde Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus Technische Universität Dresden Germany

College of Engineering Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Santiago Chile

Departamento de Biología Celular y Fisiología Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Mexico

Department of Clinical Neuroscience Karolinska Institutet Stockholm Sweden

Department of Food and Nutrition University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland

Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Hospital for Sick Children University of Toronto Canada

Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Faculty of Health Studies University of Pardubice Pardubice Czech Republic

Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Cairo University Cairo Egypt

Department of Otorhinolaryngology Jikei University School of Medicine Tokyo Japan

Department of Otorhinolaryngology University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital Delhi India

ENT Clinic University of Insubriae Varese ASST Settelaghi Italy

Escuela de Psicología Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago Chile

Gösta Ekman Laboratory Department of Psychology Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden

Institute of Psychology University of Wroclaw Poland

Otorhinolaryngology Department of Biruni University Medical Faculty Acibadem Taksim Hospital Otorhinolaryngology Department Istanbul Turkey

Pediatric ENT Unit Department of Otorhinolaryngologie Head and Neck Surgery University Hospital of Geneva Switzerland

Pediatric Feeding Disorders Clinic Dana Children's Hospital Tel Aviv Medical Center Tel Aviv Israel

Pediatric Otolaryngology Dana Children's Hospital Tel Aviv Medical Center Sackler School of Medicine Tel Aviv Israel

Rhinology Olfactology Unit Department of Otorhinolaryngologie Head and Neck Surgery University Hospital of Geneva Switzerland

Rhinology Unit and Smell Clinic ENT Department Hospital Clínic IDIBAPS Universitat de Barcelona CIBERES Barcelona Catalonia Spain

Smell and Taste Clinic Department of Otorhinolaryngology TU Dresden Dresden Germany

Smell and Taste Clinic Department of Otorhinolaryngology TU Dresden Dresden Germany; Institute of Psychology University of Wroclaw Poland

Systema Natura GmbH Flintbek Germany

Temple University Department of Psychology Philadelphia USA; Monell Chemical Senses Center Philadelphia USA

Unidad de Rinología y Cirugía de Base de Cráneo Servicio de Otorrinolaringología Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal Madrid Spain

Citace poskytuje Crossref.org