Research suggests that as we age, protein intake, recognised as vital for combating negative health outcomes, consistently falls below recommendations in older adults. Decreased food intake, combined with age-related eating complications is a major determinant of this protein undernutrition. If nutritional interventions are to be effective and sustainable, they must enable eating pleasure, cater for personal preferences and be adaptable to different eating patterns. As such, we aimed to identify successful strategies for at-home protein-fortification to empower older adults to take a personalised approach to their nutrition, without requiring a large behavioural change. To explore healthy older adults’ (age 70+) acceptability and preferences for at-home protein fortification, European project Fortiphy led discussions with older adults (n = 37) and caregivers of older adults (n = 15) to develop high-protein recipes, which were then utilised in a home-use trial with healthy older adults (n = 158). Each fortified recipe was paired with a questionnaire to rate the ease of preparation and liking, and an end-of-study questionnaire was provided to capture overall opinions and preferences. The uniqueness of this study is that the protein fortified recipes were prepared and tested by older adults themselves, in their own homes. Findings showed that older adults were unaware of the importance of protein in ageing and did not have a desire to fortify their foods at present. Yet, they were positive regarding the concept and highlighted the importance of taste, familiar ingredients, and preferred preparation methods. Cultural preferences across countries were identified as having the most influence on the liking of fortified meals. This study also indicated a need for increased awareness of protein requirements to influence the motivation to use fortification.

中文翻译：

---

英国、法国和挪威老年人对食品蛋白强化的接受度和偏好。

研究表明，随着年龄的增长，被认为对对抗负面健康结果至关重要的蛋白质摄入量始终低于老年人的建议摄入量。食物摄入量减少，加上与年龄相关的饮食并发症，是这种蛋白质营养不良的主要决定因素。如果营养干预措施要有效且可持续，就必须带来饮食乐趣、满足个人喜好并适应不同的饮食模式。因此，我们的目标是确定家庭蛋白质强化的成功策略，使老年人能够采取个性化的营养方法，而不需要大幅改变行为。为了探索健康老年人（70 岁以上）对家庭蛋白质强化的接受度和偏好，欧洲 Fortiphy 项目与老年人 (n = 37) 和老年人的护理人员 (n = 15) 进行了讨论，以开发高蛋白食谱，然后将其用于健康老年人的家庭使用试验（n = 158）。每个强化食谱都配有一份调查问卷，以评估准备的难易程度和喜好，并提供研究结束调查问卷以获取总体意见和偏好。这项研究的独特之处在于，蛋白质强化食谱是由老年人自己在自己的家中准备和测试的。研究结果表明，老年人没有意识到蛋白质在衰老中的重要性，目前也没有强化食物的愿望。然而，他们对这个概念持积极态度，并强调口味、熟悉的成分和首选制备方法的重要性。各国的文化偏好被认为对强化膳食的喜好影响最大。这项研究还表明需要提高对蛋白质需求的认识，以影响使用强化的动机。