No abstract

Background: Setting up a home-delivered meal service often allows older people suffering from physical and/or cognitive disabilities to stay at home. However, older people who delegate their food activities (food purchasing, cooking…) have been reported to have a worse nutritional status than people who take care of their food activities. In this context, we will conduct a systematic review of all studies related to the nutritional issue in home-delivered meal older recipients.Methods: In June 2020, we searched 3 databases (Pubmed, Web of Science, EMBASE) to identify studies from all years on older adults at home and receiving home-delivered meal services (population). The following outcomes were considered: nutritional status (Body Mass Index, weight, undernutrition) and nutritional intake. Any nutritional intervention, comparator, and study design were relevant for inclusion.Results: Forty-eight original studies met the inclusion criteria, most of them being published after the year 2000 (n = 34) and undertaken in the USA (n = 32). The selection includes 30 cross-sectional and 18 longitudinal studies. The main findings of this review are the following: (1) home-delivery meal older recipients are at high risk of undernutrition; (2) providing home-delivery meals may improve the nutritional status and nutrient intake; (3) this improvement is even higher when the home-delivery meal service is improved, for instance by providing dietetic counseling or adding supplementary snacks/meals or enriched food. However, even an improved service does not allow all the older recipients meeting their recommended nutritional allowance.Conclusion: This review reveals a need to further develop strategies allowing home-delivery meal older recipients to fulfill their nutritional needs. From a methodological point of view, there is a need to describe in more detail the home-delivered services provided to studies' participants to better consider meal frequency and meal content in the results.

Objective. In this study, we focus on elderly people (≥70 years old) benefiting from a home delivery meal service as part of a social welfare program. We aimed to: (i) assess the gap between the recommended and actual nutritional intake in this population and (ii) study the relationship between the intake of nutrients and the variables characterizing the participants’ health and nutritional status. Design. A dietary survey (24-hour record) was conducted during a home interview, with 64 people receiving a home delivery meal service (75% women; 70–97 years old). At the same time, the participants answered questionnaires assessing their nutritional and health status. Results. Our data showed that the consumption of 70 to 80% participants was not sufficient for reaching the nutritional recommendations for energy and macronutrients. Additionally, the data showed that the lower the energy and protein intakes, the higher the risk of malnutrition. In addition, one third of the participants were both overweight or obese and at risk of undernutrition or undernourished. Our study demonstrated that the heavier the person, the more difficult it was for them to meet the nutritional recommendations based on kilograms of body weight. Finally, individuals receiving two to three delivered meals per day had higher energy and protein intakes than those receiving a single meal. Conclusion. These results suggest that it is important that home meal delivery companies improve the quality of their meals and service so that their recipients can better meet nutritional recommendations.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Objective: The present study aimed at assessing the feasibility and the effectiveness of a personalized dietary intervention in a meals-on-wheels service through a randomized controlled pilot trial. Design: Sixty recipients of home-delivered meals (75% of women; 70-97 years old) were recruited and randomly assigned to a control and an experimental group and followed over a period of 4 months. In the experimental group, the nutritional status (Mini-Nutritional Assessment - MNA questionnaire), the food intake and the food preferences were measured for each participant. Based on this screening, participants were provided with dietary guidance and follow-up. Those at risk of malnutrition were proposed enriched home-delivered meals. Enrichment was set up considering food preferences of the participants. Results: Looking at the whole sample at baseline, 80% (n=48/60) were at risk of malnutrition. Furthermore, 55% (n=33/60) ate less than 2/3 of their calorie and/or protein recommended allowances. In the experimental group, the intervention led to an increase of protein intakes and to a lower extent of calorie intake. In the control group, no significant changes were observed. Conclusion: To conclude, this study suggests that providing dietary guidance and adding nutrient-dense food to meals while considering food preferences is feasible and may help older beneficiaries of meals-on-wheels to increase calorie and protein intake and improve their nutritional status. However, there is a need to develop products or recipes to enrich the meals of the elderly more efficiently to achieve the recommended allowance.