Mothers with children aged between 5 and 12 years were recruited for a research study on taste preferences from flyers and advertisements in local newspapers and parent magazines in Philadelphia, PA. During the telephone interview, mothers were given detailed descriptions of the study procedures but were not told the goals of the study and hypotheses being tested; nor were they recruited based on the incidence of family history of alcohol abuse. The study population consisted of 300 healthy, non-diabetic children (175 girls, 125 boys), 8.2 ± 0.1 years of age, and their mothers. Their race/ethnicity, based on maternal reports of the racial background of both parents (49.7% black, 32.3% white, 0.7% Hispanic, 0.7% Asian, 16.3% mixed race/ethnicity and 0.3% unknown), family yearly income level (26% < $20 000, 37% $20 000–50 000, 30% $50 000–100 000, 3% > $100 000, 4% unknown) and highest level of education for the mother (39% high school or technical school, 35% some college, 17% college graduates, 9% graduate/advanced degree), reflected the racial and socio-economic diversity of the Philadelphia area. Mothers were paid for their participation.
