Appraisal of 4 months' consumption of nutrient-dense foods within the daily feeding pattern of frail elderly

Objectives: The appraisal and acceptance of micronutrient-dense versus iden tical regular foods among frail elderly are described. Methods: Four types of dairy and four types of fruit products, either enriched with multiple mi cronutrients or not, were consumed by 150 frail elders for 4 months. In the first 2 and last 2 weeks of the intervention, hedonic aspects were assesse d. Afterward, evaluation forms were completed. Results: At the start, small but consistent differences existed between the enriched and the regular fo ods concerning the scores on pleasantness, desire to eat the product, and a ttitude toward the product. At the end, those ratings dropped slightly or s tayed equal. Significant differences between groups emerged from the overal l evaluation score: 6.4 +/- 1.6 and 7.7 +/- 1.7 respectively (p < .001). Di scussion: Optimization of the hedonic parameters of nutrient-dense foods an d major long-term attention for application in the daily elderly feeding pa ttern is of essential importance.