Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Aspects Influencing Food Intake and Approaches towards Personalising Nutrition in the Elderly

Published inJournal of Population Ageing, vol. 13, p. 239-256
Publication date2020
Abstract

Healthy diets have been demonstrated to complement benefits of physical activity, physical condition and mental wellbeing, all of them being important factors influencing the quality of life of elderly. Unfortunately malnutrition is a serious threat and an increasingly prevalent condition among the fast-growing elderly population. The present work addresses the identification of important factors contributing to decreased appetite and food intake as well as the development of approaches towards a healthy diet and personalised nutrition in elderly. Within the present study semi-structured interviews with elderly and elderly suffering from swallowing and mastication difficulties have been performed, results being used for the development of food provision modules and the corresponding recipes addressing the nutritional requirements of elderly. The social context and the swallowing and mastication difficulties influence the eating behaviour as well as the motivation to eat. On the other hand, it was found that texture modified foods (food which texture is adapted to the need of people with swallowing and mastication problems) could act as motivational aspect. With regard to food personalisation in the elderly the consideration of three different case scenarios based on individual independency and the degree of oral impairment seemed to be appropriate. Different aspects such as gender weight, physical activity level as well as high protein demand are important influential factors in the development of personalised recipes in elderly. In addition to the above, a conversational agent was developed as behaviour change module and can be successfully used as smart personal assistant in helping the users to understand their eating habits and adopt healthier nutrition over the long term.

Keywords
  • Elderly nutrition
  • Malnutrition
  • Personalised food
  • Smart assistant
  • Healthy diet
Funding
  • European Commission - Development of Personalised Food using Rapid Manufacturing for the Nutrition of elderly Consumers [312092]
  • European Commission - Responsive Engagement of the Elderly promoting Activity and Customized Healthcare [690425]
Citation (ISO format)
RUSU, Alexandru et al. Aspects Influencing Food Intake and Approaches towards Personalising Nutrition in the Elderly. In: Journal of Population Ageing, 2020, vol. 13, p. 239–256. doi: 10.1007/s12062-019-09259-1
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
Identifiers
Journal ISSN1874-7884
414views
136downloads

Technical informations

Creation04/05/2020 11:10:00
First validation04/05/2020 11:10:00
Update time15/03/2023 22:04:51
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