Dietary changes reported by a random sample of elderly people

A random sub-sample of 153 elderly people was followed up 18 months after a large-scale random dietary survey of adults aged 65 years and over residing in Adelaide, South Australia. The follow-up questionnaire examined self-reported dietary and weight change over the 18 month period since the original study. The same semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire as used in the initial survey was also repeated. Challenging the common stereotype of rigidity and resistance to change in elderly people, a high degree of dietary change was reported since the original study (67% of men and 68% of women reported a change in diet), particularly among the 65-69 year age group (78%). The most commonly reported changes were largely in accord with dietary guidelines. Commonly reported changes included less frequent intake of red meat, eggs, fried and fatty foods and more frequent intake of vegetables, chicken and fish, as well as changes towards use of polyunsaturated margarine, no longer eating the fat on meat and no longer presoaking vegetables in water before cooking. Of concern was a change in some subjects to a less frequent consumption of milk or other dairy products.