As a country whose population is ageing fastest in the world – by 2025, an estimated 20% of the population will be aged 65+ – South Korea stands to gain from focusing on healthy ageing. A core element of healthy ageing is nutrition, and in 2017 the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) established a category of designated senior-friendly foods which forms part of the country’s national senior-friendly food industry strategy.

The category includes 113 products from around 25 companies, including industry giants like Pulmuone and Hyundai Green Food. Labelling of senior-friendly products is voluntary. Classification is based on parameters including nutritional profile, viscosity and digestibility.

Six years after the establishment of the category, researchers have studied what – if any – effect it may be having on healthy ageing. The study involved 180 adults with an average age of 82.7 years, of whom 154 were given a daily lunchbox conforming with the MAFRA-defined senior-friendly diet. The remaining 26 were given their usual meal.

The study concluded that the strategy was a success, with malnutrition rates in the senior-friendly diet group dropping from 11.7% to 6.5%. Improvements were seen in frailty, blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Meanwhile, energy, protein, vitamin D, vitamin C and folic acid intake increased significantly.

“Special meals for older adults are absolutely necessary and must be adopted according to the circumstances of each country,” the authors conclude. “The improvement of various health conditions when using senior-friendly foods also leads to medical cost reduction.”

The study was conducted by the Kyung Hee University Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, in partnership with the Food Industry Promotional Agency of Korea. You can read it in full here: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/6/1381

Image source: Pulmuone