Nutrition and Decision Making in the Elderly People: A Preliminary Study

This study aimed to identify what influences food acceptance and decision making in the elderly following the work of Sulmont Rossé (Gérontologie et Société 3: 134 2010). Sixty participants, divided between an elderly and an older elderly group, were presented with a number of specific scenarios depicting an item of food, and they were asked to indicate how willing they would be to consume this food. The scenarios were created by varying three factors likely to impact on people’s acceptance of a specific food item: (a) The visual appearance of the food, (b) the taste of the food and (c) the texture of the food. The results mean that all participants agreed that a visual aspect and texture were the most important factors in decision making. The elderly people consider the visual aspect and texture of the food are more important than people aged between 60 and 74 years old. In view of the clarity and the diversity of these findings, this technique involving specific scenarios appears suitable for use in a larger sample.