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Describes a study of food choice among elderly people living in a rural area. The findings reveal that knowledge about “healthy foods” in this age group is good and that people often choose healthier foods in preference to alternatives, despite finding the alternatives more palatable.

Describes self‐reported dietary supplement use among elderly people in the UK and explores the association between supplement use and socioeconomic, physical and dietary factors. A three‐phase survey incorporating face‐to‐face interviews, self‐completed four‐day dietary diaries with a food frequency questionnaire and follow‐up face‐to‐face interviews took place in urban Nottingham and rural Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. A total of 957 elderly people (aged over 65) were randomly selected from general practitioner lists. A total of 36 per cent of the urban respondents and 41 per cent of rural respondents were taking at least one dietary supplement. Respondents who did not smoke were of a higher social class and had more qualifications were the most likely to take supplements. Fish oil was the most commonly taken supplement, followed by multivitamins, garlic tablets and vitamin C. The mean dietary intake of all respondents was above the reference nutrient intakes (RNIs) for nutrients studied. The diets of supplement users, excluding nutrients derived from supplementation, contained more iron, vitamin C, fibre, folate and oily fish than non‐users. Dietary supplement usage is widespread among the UK elderly, although supplement users within this sample do not appear to have diets which warrant supplementation to meet RNIs in the nutrients studied. Many advantages are, however, reported of consuming fish oils, garlic and higher intakes of anti‐oxidants.

Elderly people have often been neglected in lifestyle surveys, so little is known about the foods they eat and the attitudes which inform their food choices. Describes a collaborative study currently in progress in the City of Nottingham which investigates food choice among elderly people living at home. Aims to improve our understanding of the decisions and circumstances which influence the quality and quantity of foods consumed by older people by assessing the influence of taste preference factors, micro‐economic factors, personal and health status factors, practical considerations and accessibility of food retail outlets on the selection of foods by older people.