Healthy eating in European elderly: concepts, barriers and benefits.

BACKGROUND: The promotion of healthy eating is more likely to be effective if based on the understanding of how the elderly perceive their own diets and healthy eating.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to identify in the elderly European population, the attitudes to food, nutrition and health, in order to define adequate strategies of health promotion.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey using a face-to-face interview-assisted questionnaire. This project belongs to the multicentric Pan-EU Survey on Consumer Attitudes to Food, Nutrition and Health under the leadership of the Institute of European Food Studies - Dublin with the cooperation of members from all EU countries. 1843 European citizens, aged > or = 65, were interviewed. The data's descriptive analysis, was followed by univariate analysis to characterise the study's sample according to the defined objectives.

RESULTS: The most important factors influencing elderly's food choice were quality and freshness (54%), trying to eat healthy and price (8%). Healthy eating was defined as "less fat" (37%) "more fresh vegetables and fruit" (34%), and "natural foods" (11%). To stay healthy (36%), to prevent disease (26%) and to promote quality of life (10%) were the major benefits associated to healthy eating. However several barriers to the adoption of healthy eating were identified, namely self-control (27%), the resistance to change (23%) and price (15%). 86% of the elderly people believe they don't need to change their eating habits as they already eat healthily.

CONCLUSION: Results of this study will help to improve eating habits in the elderly, as health professionals will be able to choose the most appropriate strategies for the different groups and settings, and provide a base for future interventions in European countries for this growing age group.