Girls have a better sense of taste than boys, according to a new Danish study of 8,900 children.

Food scientists from the University of Copenhagen sent kits of taster samples and very detailed instructions to schools, where students conducted the experiment as part of science classes.

The tests quantified who could recognize sweet and sour tastes at different intensities, and who preferred sweetness over sour.

Bodil Allesen-Holm, who led the study, said the results provide show "that children and young people are very good tasters, and that there are bigger variations between them than most people would expect."

The results showed that girls recognize tastes more easilythan boys and are better at noting different concentrations. Despite that, boys and girls have about the same number of taste buds.

One in three of the students also said they would prefer non-sugary soft drinks after taking a blind taste test.

"In other words, soft drinks for children and young people do not always have to contain a lot of sugar," said Allesen-Holm.

Of course, nearly half of the students gave the highest marks to the sweetest drinks.

Another result was that older children were more sensitive to flavors and that the change comes around age 13 or 14. They start to prefer sour flavors more at that time, as well.