The National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA), which was carried out by the University of Michigan, provided a snapshot of the dietary habits of U.S. residents aged 50 years and older, just before the wave of emergency closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and based on where the food supplies of over 2,000 senior survey participants, a radical shift in eating habits has inevitably taken place.
 
According to researchers, respondents who said that they cooked dinner at home were more likely to rate their overall dietary health as excellent or very good, which may in some regard have offered those savvy in the kitchen an advantange in maintaining health over the past few months. However, solo diners reported less healthy diets than those who rarely or never ate alone, and one in four respondents said that they had already been eating most or all of their meals alone. On the contrary, 54% of respondents reported eating alone rarely or never.
 
In addition, researchers found a concern that fast food intake is on the rise among an 11% of older adults who reported eating fast food three times or more weekly, a group which was less likely to call their overall diet healthy.
 
AARP is currently conducting new polling to explore the pandemic’s effects on food-related habits, sampling older adults who are most averse to the risks associated with exposure to the virus. With the risk of exposure, restrictions on social gatherings, and a widely-felt decline in incomes, researchers expect that the dietary habits will be radically altered from the recent NPHA. For example, older adults generally reported going food shopping frequently prior to the pandemic, and only rarely used curbside pickup or home grocery delivery services,  signifying that they may be either unfamiliar or not viewed as a possibility, and it will be important to track how this usage has changed since.
 
Some of the lead researchers who worked on the poll feel that there are a number of strategies for public health officials and restaurants to employ in order to ensure that older adults have access to healthier options within their means.
 
“Public health guidance to avoid infection will continue to alter food-buying habits for many older people and those with health conditions, so further support for them may be needed to ensure healthy habits continue,” Julia Wolfson, PhD, said. “That could include more assistance with online ordering for no-contact pickup or delivery.”
 
“As restaurants begin to reopen for dining in or carry-out, the less-healthy options may beckon for those who have been cooking almost entirely at home,” Cindy Leung, ScD, said. “Restaurants could help support healthy eating by making sure affordable healthy options are available on menus and making sure nutrition information is transparent and easily available.”
 
These sentiments are relevant to the already-existent cost-related food insecurity experienced a significant number of older adults pre-COVID, as reported by NPHA.
 
Poll director Preeti Malani, MD, said that since health behaviors tend to worsen among poll respondents who feel isolated or lack companionship, older adults’ peers should place an emphasis on healthy eating when they begin socializing with older adults who have been, for the most part, eating alone all spring.
 
The good news is that, according to the most recent NPHA, a good deal of adults cook dinner at home more often than not, with 47% cooking 6-7 days, 42% cooking 3-5 days, and 11% cooking dinner just one or two days at home per week.