Background
Preserving sufficient oral function and maintaining proper nutrition are essential to prevent frailty. Thus, we have developed “munchy” foods that contain harder textures and are rich in protein.
Objectives
This study aimed to test the effects of masticating textured foods on masticatory muscle activity in young and older adults.
Methods
Twenty young and 32 community‐dwelling older individuals participated in this study. After measuring oral function, we subdivided the older participants into normal and oral hypofunction (OHF) groups. Two test foods (meatloaf and chicken ball) were prepared to have a harder texture using specific ingredients (munchy) or not (control). The participants ate 10 g of the test foods in random order while being measured for masseter muscle activity with a surface electromyogram (EMG). We calculated the number of chewing cycles and integrated muscle activity of the masseter muscle from the EMG data and tested for differences by food texture or age group.
Results
The number of chewing cycles, mean EMG amplitude and integrated EMG activity was significantly higher for the munchy foods than for the controls for all groups. The integrated masseter muscle EMG activity was significantly increased in the normal older group than in the young group for both food types, but not significantly different between in OHF and young groups.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that eating textured foods will lead to increased masticatory load and therefore increased muscle activity, especially in older adults. Application of textured food may change dietary habits in older adults.
Since the oral cavity is the entrance point of nutrition, oral function has a deep association with nutrition and frailty. 1-5 In hospitalised patients, declined oral function is a risk factor for malnutrition and poor prognosis, and deteriorated oral hygiene increases the risk of systemic infections. 6 Even in community-dwelling older people, oral frailty and hypofunction represent risk factors for physical frailty and mortality. 7,8 Thus, maintaining oral health may prevent malnutrition and physical frailty to prolong a healthy life in older adults. The deterioration of oral function is easily overlooked due to the integrated coordination of multiple oral processes. Therefore, the quantitative assessment of declines in specific oral functions and the diagnosis of hypofunction are important to monitor oral condition and preserve or improve oral health. The concept of 'Oral Hypofunction' was proposed by the Japanese Society of
Objectives
Preserving sufficient oral function and maintaining adequate nutrition are essential for preventing frailty and the following long-term care. We recently developed the 6-month Comprehensive Awareness Modification of Mouth, Chewing And Meal (CAMCAM) program, in which participants gather monthly to learn about oral health and nutrition while eating a textured lunch together. This study examined whether the CAMCAM program could improve attitude and behavior towards oral health, mastication, and diet as well as ameliorate oral frailty in community-dwelling older adults.
Design
Single-arm pre-post comparison study
Setting and Participants:
A total of 271 community-dwelling adults in 4 Japanese municipalities were recruited, of which 249 participants (92%) were assessed at the final evaluation.
Intervention
Participants gathered once a month at community centers to learn about oral health and nutrition while eating a textured lunch with ingenious cooking recipes.
Measurements
Oral frailty, frailty, and eating behavior were evaluated with the Oral Frailty Index-8 (OFI-8), Kihon checklist (KCL), and CAMCAM checklist, respectively. Participants were divided into Oral frailty (OF) and Robust groups according to OFI-8 scores. The differences in KCL and CAMCAM checklist results between the OF and Robust groups were statistically tested along with changes in scores after the program.
Results
KCL and CAMCAM checklist scores were significantly lower in the OF group at the initial assessment. OFI-8 and KCL findings were significantly improved in the OF group after completing the program (all P < 0.05). Regarding the CAMCAM checklist, awareness of chewing improved significantly in the Robust group (P = 0.009), with a similar tendency in the OF group (P = 0.080).
Conclusion
Our findings suggest that individuals with oral frailty have problems with chewing and meals, and harbor the risk of frailty. The CAMCAM program may be an effective means of changing attitudes towards eating behavior and oral frailty in the community setting.
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