PULLMAN, Wash. — Foods that evoke a sense of nostalgia and comfort and have good texture variety are important considerations in prepared meals aimed at older adults, according to new Washington State University research.
"We want to help the prepared food industry produce appetizing, healthy meals for older adults," said Carolyn Ross, professor in WSU's School of Food Science . "Malnutrition is quite prevalent in people over 60 because food may be available, but they won't eat it if they don't like it. We want to walk a line where food is tasty, convenient, and full of nutrients."
In a paper recently published in the Journal of Food Science , Ross and her team developed desirable and nutritious dairy-rich breakfasts and desserts for older adults, defined as anyone over age 60. They asked 81 people, with an average age of 71, to taste two breakfast meals and two desserts. Scientists then asked a series of questions about the meals and individual eating habits.
Food-related nostalgia may be difficult to measure, but it showed up in many responses, Ross said.
"We asked what people thought about when it came to food and nostalgia," she said. "Many responses were tied to a person, like their grandmother's cookies. If a product evoked more nostalgia, then we found that they liked it more."
Many responses to the nostalgia question revolved around barbeque, which stood out to Ross because nostalgia is so personal.
"I was surprised by the importance of comfort and nostalgia," she said. "Those terms are tricky to describe, but it's one of those 'you know it when you see it' things. We're working now to hone down how people define those terms so we can help make more foods that appeal to this age range."
Ross said she's hoping to work with prepared food manufacturers to design foods specifically for older adults who want convenient but nutritious meals that they will enjoy.
"This is a huge and growing population," she said. "We want to help keep them healthy and happy for a long time."
Studying food nostalgia is a newer avenue of food science work, Ross said, but examining comfort food is a bit more established. Preference can vary widely due to cultural differences. In this study, whenever people labeled something as a comfort food, they liked it more. One ingredient was commonly placed in the comfort category: cheese.
"Participants' perceived comfort level decreased if we decreased the flavor level," Ross said. "That really stood out with cheese; when the participants said there wasn't enough cheese flavor in the meal, then the comfort associated with the meal decreased. Cheese seems to mean comfort."
The research team also found that food texture is important, which is not a new conclusion. Texture can have a significant impact on whether people will eat something.
"It's not one specific texture or textures that matter, it's a variety of textures," Ross said. "Having a diet with a lot of texture variety, including textures like crispy and firm, along with soft and creamy foods, really stood out. And for older adults, who may not be able to eat the same firm and crispy foods they once could, keeping as much texture variety as possible is still important."
In future studies, Ross hopes to look more at flavor and other specific meal attributes that increase comfort.
