title: Mitigating Nutrition and Health Deficiencies in Older Adults: A Role for Food Innovation?
abstract: The aim of this review is to describe the factors contributing to diminished food intake, resulting in nutritional deficiencies and associated health conditions in older adults and proposes food innovation strategies to mitigate these. Research has provided convincing evidence of a link between healthy eating patterns and healthy aging. There is a need to target new food product development (NPD) with functional health benefits specifically designed to address the particular food-related needs of older consumers. When developing foods for older adults, consideration should be given to the increased requirements for specific macro- and micronutrients, especially protein, calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B. Changes in chemosensory acuity, chewing difficulties, and reduced or poor swallowing ability should also be considered. To compensate for the diminished appetite and reduced intake, foods should be energy dense, nutritionally adequate, and, most importantly, palatable, when targeting this cohort. This paper describes the potential of new food product development to facilitate dietary modification and address health deficiencies in older adults.
authors.affiliation: Food Quality and Sensory Science Dept., Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin, 15, Ireland.|Dept. of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Univ. College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Sephora
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baugreet
authors.affiliation: Food Quality and Sensory Science Dept., Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin, 15, Ireland.
authors.forename: Ruth M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hamill
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Univ. College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kerry
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Agrifood Business and Spatial Analysis, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin, 15, Ireland.
authors.forename: Sinéad N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002149:Energy Intake; D005518:Food Preferences; D005524:Food Technology; D006801:Humans; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000150:complications / Q000178:diet therapy; D018977:Micronutrients / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood*; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology; D011788:Quality of Life; D055948:Sarcopenia / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats; D004044:Dietary Proteins; D018977:Micronutrients
keywords: age-related diseases; healthy aging; new product development (NPD); nutritional deficiencies