Meals and snacks among elderly self-managing and disabled women

The aim of this study was to describe the frequency and distribution of self-managing and disabled elderly women's eating events, as well as to investigate which definition/names the women had given their different eating events and to categorise these into meals and snacks. An additional aim was to study the composition of meals and snacks, and analyse the nutritional significance of these eating events in terms of energy and macronutrients.

Elderly women, both self-managing (n=139) and disabled (n=63; with Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid arthritis or stroke), aged 64-88 years, and living at home participated.

A repeated 24 h recall and an estimated food diary for three consecutive days were used.

The eating events defined by the women that were categorised as meals contributed 74% of the total daily energy intake, while snacks contributed 22-23%. The meals that the women had defined as dinner, was the most energy dense meal. The frequency of eating events not defined by the women, was 30-34%, but contributed only 3-4% of the total daily energy intake. The disabled women had a significantly lower energy content in meals and most snacks, compared to the self-managing women.

The main conclusion was that elderly women still living at home had their meals distributed during the day and that these meals were characterised by individuality and flexibility.