title: Short communication: dairy consumption among middle-aged and elderly adults in Switzerland.
abstract: Different studies have shown that people are aware of the benefits of dairy products, but a sizeable part of the world's population still does not consume the recommended amount of dairy produce. The aims of the present research were to determine which dairy products are consumed by the middle-aged and elderly (50-81yr old) living in Switzerland and to explore why some of this population segment are actually reducing their consumption of dairy products. On average, older Swiss adults consumed 2.6 portions of dairy products per day, which is slightly less than the recommended 3 to 4 portions a day. Additionally, about one-quarter of the respondents indicated that they have reduced their milk or dairy consumption. The main reasons given for this decision were to reduce fat or cholesterol. A reported difficulty in digesting some dairy products may be a further reason for limiting dairy intake, particularly cheese. It follows that a need for the propagation of appropriate nutritional information about dairy products to the middle-aged and elderly exists.
authors.affiliation: Agroscope, Institute of Food Sciences, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: magali.chollet@agroscope.admin.ch.
authors.forename: Magali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chollet
authors.affiliation: Agroscope, Institute of Food Sciences, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Doreen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gille
authors.affiliation: Agroscope, Institute of Food Sciences, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Piccinali
authors.affiliation: Agroscope, Institute of Food Sciences, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ueli
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bütikofer
authors.affiliation: Agroscope, Institute of Food Sciences, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.affiliation: Agroscope, Institute of Food Sciences, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stoffers
authors.affiliation: Nofima, NO-9291 Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Themistoklis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Altintzoglou
authors.affiliation: Agroscope, Institute of Food Sciences, CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Walther
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002611:Cheese; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008892:Milk; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland; D044465:White People; D015014:Yogurt
keywords: Swiss; consumption; dairy; elderly; middle-aged