# Gender, Ethnicity and Children's Attitudes and Preferences for Essential Oils

**URL:** <https://pheromonetalk.com/t/gender-ethnicity-and-childrens-attitudes-and-preferences-for-essential-oils/5146>\
**Category:** Studies & Abstracts\
**Created:** [August 18, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/gender-ethnicity-and-childrens-attitudes-and-preferences-for-essential-oils/5146 "2007-08-18T02:31:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Socrates](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Socrates](https://pheromonetalk.com/u/Socrates)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://pheromonetalk.com/t/gender-ethnicity-and-childrens-attitudes-and-preferences-for-essential-oils/5146/1 "2007-08-18T02:31:38Z")

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**1: Explore (NY). 2007 Jul;3(4):378-385.**

**The Effect of Gender and Ethnicity on Children’s Attitudes and Preferences for Essential Oils: A Pilot Study.**

[**Fitzgerald M**](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Fitzgerald%20M%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), [**Culbert T**](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Culbert%20T%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), [**Finkelstein M**](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Finkelstein%20M%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), [**Green M**](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Green%20M%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), [**Johnson A**](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Johnson%20A%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus), [**Chen S**](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Chen%20S%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus).  
Integrative Medicine Program, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.  
CONTEXT: Aromatherapy is frequently recommended for children but children’s preferences for specific essential oils are not well documented. OBJECTIVE: To measure preferences of school aged children for essential oils based on gender and ethnicity. DESIGN: Descriptive study measuring children’s responses to and preferences for selected essential oils. SETTING: Pediatric integrative medicine clinic in a Midwestern children’s hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Healthy school-age children of Latino (N = 39) and non-Latino Caucasian (NLC) (N = 48) ethnicity, 41.7% of the NLC group and 59.0% of the Latino Group were males. INTERVENTION: Participants smelled single essential oils, answered three forced choice questions and one open ended question, order of exposure was varied. OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants evaluated each scent’s effect on mood and energy, stated their preferences, indicated if scents evoked particular thoughts and selected a favorite essential oil. RESULTS: Females were more likely to feel happy when smelling sweet orange (p = .043). Female Latinos were more likely than NLC females to find sweet orange calming (56.2% vs. 18.5%). Male Latinos were more likely (65.2%) to describe peppermint as “energetic” than male NLC (30%). Children chose an essential oil that they rated as “making them feel happy” (72.6%) and/or as “liking the most” (64.3%). Other results that approached statistical significance were: females felt more energetic with spearmint (p = .055). Latinos preferred spearmint over NLC (p = .075), and all males felt more energetic when smelling ginger (p = .091). Ginger and lavender were the least preferred. Results indicate that children have specific essential oil scent preferences. There is trend toward differences based on gender and ethnicity.  
PMID: 17681258 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]