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I . The study set out to examine the suggestion that a child's spontaneous selection of food is guided by a need for specific nutrients rather than by a simple expression of his taste.2. Newly wcancd rats were divided into two groups; one was fed on a high-protcin diet (HP) and the other one on a low-protein diet (LP). Each group was divided to two sub groups; one given 40% sucrose solution (HPS and LPS) and the other not (HPO and LPO). 3. They were kept in individual cages and observed for 9 weeks. HPO and LPO w-ere permitted free access to the diet and water, and HPS and LPS to the dict, water and thc sugar solution. The latter groups consumed sugar regardless of the protein content of their diet and the energy derived from sugar reached nearly ,jo 76 of total cnergy at the end of the experimental period.4. Both I-IP groups gained weight at about the same rate, w-ith LPO rats making poorer growth and LPS rats still poorer growth.5 . Liver fat content of LPS was significantly high compared with other groups and the correlation coefficient for sugar intake and liver fat content was high within the group.6. The weight of femur, and its calcium and mineral contcnt were parallel with the bodyweight, that of LPS being the lowcst.7. It was concluded that the young rat would choose a considerahlc amount of sugar, cvcn sacrificing its growth and health when its daily diet was poor in protein.There has been much controversy as to whcthcr animals have an inborn drive to select foods which fulfil their physiological requirements (Davis, 1928, 1934 Macy (1942) suggested that the child would not crave for sweets if his dict was well balanced, but after reviewing the literature, the American Academy of Pediatrics : Committee on Nutrition (1964) commented that the science of nutrition seemed a more reliable guide to food selection than the child's natural desire. The present experiment was designed to see whether young rats with access to a well-balanced diet would allow their natural liking for sugar to unbalance it. E X P E R I M E N T A LTwenty newly weaned male Wister rats, five lots each of four litter-mates, were divided into four groups of five with one of the four siblings in each group. The rats weighed about 50 g. Two groups were fed on a balanced high-protein dict (HP) and the other two groups on a low-protein diet (LP). One HP and one LP group were permitted free access to 40 % sucrose solution as well as to water, and designated HPS and LPS ; the other two groups were fed without sugar solution, and designated HPO and LPO.https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi

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