Effectiveness of a food education program in improving appetite and nutritional status of elderly adults living at home

Objective: To evaluate a 3-week program comprising cooking demonstrations with free food samples in motivating elderly adults to cook more and improve their nutritional status. Design: An experimental pre-post study. Setting: Three districts in Hong Kong. Participants: Sixty aged 59-95 home-living adults. Intervention: Group A (one 1-day food sample given free weekly) and Group B (three 1-day food samples given free weekly). Main Outcome Measure: Satisfaction questionnaires were conducted every week. Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) scores were assessed at baseline and 6 months after the program's completion. Analysis: Nutritional status was assessed before and after intervention. Repeated analysis of variance measures of compliance, appetite, easiness of program at 3-week time-points were calculated to differentiate a more frequent (Group B) and a less frequent (Group A) provision of food sample reinforced their cooking skills to a greater extent. Results: The compliance rate of Group B was higher than that of Group A. More than 60% of the participants intended to continue cooking and a third of the participants expressed satisfaction with the program. The MNA scores had improved 6 months later (combined data from both groups). Conclusions: Nutrition education through cooking demonstrations and the community-based distribution of food ingredients can improve the nutrition status of the elderly population.