OLDER ADULTS AND PREPARED MEALS: INFLUENCES ON ACCEPTABILITY  AND DIETARY QUALITY

Bryan Michael Pepito

By the year 2030, the US anticipates a rapid increase in the older adult population. With the increase in age comes an increased risk for chronic disease. Chronic disease risk can be reduced through consumption of high diet quality meals. This thesis sought to develop nutritious meals that older adults would find desirable. This study accomplished this objective through two studies. The first study determined what attributes older adults would want in breakfasts and desserts through the two studies. The breakfast study (n=212, mean age=70) found that one cluster of older adult participants wanted a breakfast with no meat, cheese, potatoes, and a good source of fiber claim and another cluster wanted a breakfast with the same attributes except with red meat in place of no meat. This same survey also determined that older adults did not express technophobia towards novel microwave technology processing or neophobia towards meals processed with microwave technology. The dessert survey (n=300, mean age=69.7) found that one cluster of participants wanted a dessert flavored with chocolate, sweetened with sugar, contained fruit inclusions, and had a heart-healthy claim; the other cluster wanted a similar dessert but with vanilla flavor and honey as a sweetener. This survey also found that oral health was correlated with desirability towards certain attributes such as the fruit inclusions. Utilizing the first study’s results, the second study developed a meat-containing breakfast, a vegetarian breakfast, a chocolate dessert, and a vanilla dessert. These meals were evaluated by 81 independently living older adults residing in the Eastern Washington regions. The vanilla dessert was found to be slightly undesirable while the other three meals were found to be slightly desirable. Further insight found key ingredient formulations that may explain why the vanilla dessert was found undesirable. This study also found that acceptability of the meals was influenced by the intensity of comfort experienced during evaluation, intensity of nostalgia, and texture preferences. Texture preference data also revealed that older adults expressed a comfortability consuming textures outside of the textures typically suggested to older adults such as soft or pureed textures. Lastly, analysis of participants’ diet quality through the Healthy Eating Index-2020 found that older adults’ diets have several areas for improvement. Consumption of either dessert would significantly improve diet quality of this study’s participants. Results of this thesis project can be utilized to better develop nutritious meals for the older adult population.

OLDER ADULTS AND PREPARED MEALS: INFLUENCES ON ACCEPTABILITY AND DIETARY QUALITY

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