Nutritional supplementation in older adults: pleasantness, preference and selection of sip-feeds.
OBJECTIVE
Malnourishment is common in older adults, and nutritional supplementation is used to improve body weight and well-being. Clinical reports suggest, however, that patients routinely reject sip-feeds. The present study examined the following questions: whether sip-feeds are less preferred and less likely to be selected than other energy-dense foods in healthy elders; and whether eating alone further reduces intake relative to eating in a social setting.


METHODS
Twenty-one healthy older adults (aged 60-79 years) attended the laboratory on three occasions. Subjects rated six different flavours of sip-feed and then rated the pleasantness of the taste of the favoured flavour against five other energy-dense familiar foods/drinks. Intake of these foods was measured when subjects ate alone or in a group of familiar others.


RESULTS
Favourite flavour of sip-feed compared well with other more familiar foods and was selected as part of a snack. Snack intake increased by 60% when consumed in a group setting compared with eating alone.


CONCLUSIONS
The study suggests that sip-feeds are rated as pleasant and selected by free-living elders. Rejection of sip-feeds in hospitalized elders may relate more to loss of appetite than to the taste preference for sip-feeds, and that eating alone rather than in groups of familiar others is likely to compound eating problems.
McAlpine
S J
SJ
Department of Psychology, University of Dundee, UK.
Harper
J
J
McMurdo
M E T
ME
Bolton-Smith
C
C
Hetherington
M M
MM
D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D002755:Choice Behavior; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000592:standards*; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged