Factors influencing food choices and intake

To find out what elderly people eat and why, researchers interviewed 303 noninstitutionalized persons over 65. In addition to questions about the kinds and amounts of foods eaten, they quizzed the subjects on their eating patterns and their attitudes and knowledge about food and nutrition. The intakes of eight essential nutrients, calculated and compared with the Recommended Daily Dietary Allowances, were high overall. Some subjects, however, thought they ate better than they did. Eighty-three percent rated their own intake as good or excellent, but only about 60 percent actually fit this category. Diet did not correlate significantly with income, education, age, religion, or culture-probably due in part to the homogeneity of the sample-but some trends emerged. Even though the ratio of women to men was 3:1, the percentage of men who ate an excellent diet was higher than that of women in all four age groups. Also, each successive age group had a higher percentage of good or excellent scores.