Oral sugar clearance in children compared with adults

The aim of the present investigation was to study oral sugar clearance of various types of foodstuffs in children of different ages in comparison with adults. Thirty children and 20 adults were selected constituting five groups, each containing 10 individuals: 3-, 7-, 15-years-olds and adults, all with normal salivary secretion rate, and adults with low salivary secretion rate (dry mouth patients). Oral sugar clearance was studied using three glucose-containing products: solution, tablet and biscuit. Repeated saliva samples were collected every other minute, between 1 and 11 min after the intake, with a convenient method suitable for very young children. For that purpose, a small circular paper disc, absorbing approximately 20 microliters of saliva, was placed under the tongue for 10 s. The glucose concentration of the samples was then analyzed enzymatically. The results showed that, in children, the oral sugar clearance became faster with increasing age. The adults and the 15-year-olds had similar patterns of clearance, while the dry mouth patients had the slowest oral clearance of all groups. The 3- and 7-year-olds showed the greatest variation in oral clearance between the various foodstuffs; the solution had faster clearance than both the biscuit and the tablet. The main conclusion from this study is that young children (3- and 7-year-olds) have both slower salivary sugar clearance and larger variation in clearance among various foodstuffs than older children and adults.