Older persons differ in their emotions relating to mealtimes
Wageningen University. Netherlands: Older persons can be divided into four groups based on their emotional
experience of mealtimes. That is the conclusion of scientists from
Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research on the basis of research
carried out by members of the senior test panel SenTo. The study, which
was published in Appetite in September, offers product developers and
marketers tools for better adapting their products to meet the differing
needs and wants of the growing population of older persons.
Wageningen researchers classified older persons on the basis of
the emotion words they associate with their mealtimes. The most
important variables are the positive or negative valuation (such as
enjoyable, happy, guilty, or disgusting) and the degree of excitement
and activity (adventurous, calm) that the participants felt in
connection with their mealtimes. 'Previous research into the eating
habits of elderly people paid very little attention to emotions, despite
the fact that the emotional aspect seems to become more important as
people age,' says Louise den Uijl, a PhD in the Consumer Science &
Health group.
Ms Smith
In order to be able to easily
distinguish the groups from one another, the scientists created a
fictional character for each group representing a typical member of that
group. For instance, Ms Smith represented the largest group, the
'’pleasurable averages,' in which approximately 50% of participants were
classified. Ms Smith has only moderate emotions towards her mealtimes.
She thinks that health and taste are important and she tries new things
once in a while, but she is not looking for culinary surprises.
The
'adventurous arousal,' Mr Hunter, represents 25% of the participants.
He enjoys his meals and looks forward to seeing new things on his plate.
The 'convivial indulger,' Ms Rose, representing approximately 12.5% of
the participants,. She places greater value on the people she eats with
than on special treats. The 'indifferent restrictive,' Mr Sadler,
representing approximately 12.5% of the participants, is not very
interested in what he eats. He associates his mealtimes with negative
emotions, and as a result he runs the greatest risk of becoming
malnourished.
Living independently for longer
The
population of older persons in society will increase in number and
diversity in the coming years throughout the world. However, the range
of foods available to them does not have much relation to their needs
and wants. The expectation is that products that meet the needs of the
various groups of older persons, in combination with good communication,
could result in better intake of nutrients among this population. In
the long term, that could help older people to live independently for
longer, according to the Wageningen researchers.
Questionnaires through the SenTo panel
All 392 participants in the study are also members of the SenTo panel (Senioren voor de Toekomst,
'seniors for the future'). This test panel, an initiative of Wageningen
UR, consists of people above the age of 55, who live independently, can
work with a computer and go online, do their own grocery shopping, and
speak fluent Dutch. For this study, the average age of the participants
was 65.8 years. The ratio of male participants to female participants
was 40% to 60%. The participants filled in three online questionnaires
about the emotions they experienced when eating meals and snacks, the
function that they attributed to meals, and their attitudes towards
health and taste.
Publication
The results of the study
are described in the paper 'It is not just a meal, it is an emotional
experience: A segmentation of older persons based on the emotions that
they associate with mealtimes' (L.C. den Uijl et al.), published in Appetite.