Kids' Obesity Linked to Ear Infections

What's more, teenage girls who'd had a tonsillectomy were 30 percent more likely to be overweight, the researchers found. Hoffman noted that tonsillectomies were a common treatment back in the 60s for chronic ear infections, which can alter the taste buds and affect eating habits.

"This data is not conclusive, but it's suggestive," he said.

In the final study, Linda Bartoshuk, of the University of Florida College of Dentistry, and colleagues collected data on 6,584 people who attended a lecture series. These men and women, between 16 and 92 years old, were asked about their history of ear infections. The researchers found that those with a history of moderate to severe ear infections were 62 percent more likely to be obese.

Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Yale University School of Medicine Prevention Research Center, thinks that alteration in taste only plays a small part in the overall obesity epidemic in the United States.

"It certainly makes sense that variations in taste, due to many factors including a history of ear infections, could influence food preferences, total food intake and weight," he said.

However, despite variation in taste perception, variation in dietary preference, and variation in the history of ear infections, researchers have projections forecasting all but universal obesity among U.S .adults within several decades should current trends persist, Katz noted.

"So while the link between taste buds and vulnerability to obesity is worthy of further exploration, the simple fact is that the entire population is vulnerable to obesity," Katz said. "The major causes of the obesity epidemic reside in the 'obesigenic' environment, rather than on our tongues."

More information

For more on obesity, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

SOURCES: Kathleen Daly, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; John Hayes, Ph.D., Brown University, Providence, R.I.; Howard Hoffman, epidemiologist, U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, Bethesda, Md.; David L. Katz, M.D., M.P.H., director, Prevention Research Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.; Aug. 14, 2008, presentations, American Psychological Association annual meeting, Boston