APPETITE-FOR-LIFE in a sensory perspective

The ageing populations in many countries are growing and has become a major human, societal, economic and health concern. One of the main obstacles is undernourishment, which is a significant and neglected public health problem among the elderly (Bülow et al., 2003). The negative consequences of poor nutrition lead to a general decline in the quality of life and associated costs for health care (Arvanitakis et al., 2008).

Appetite is a key factor in food intake (Edfors and Westergren, 2012). Loss of appetite is however common and due to many factors, eg decreased ability to perceive sensory attributes, the meal situation, health etc (Nyberg et al., 2014). The EU funded project HealthSense (2000-2003) between 24 laboratories collected and reported a remarkable body of information, but since then no major effort to tackle the problem has been undertaken. More knowledge is needed on elderly people’s food preferences and perception, culinary preparations and how to organize meals and food intake.

The aim of the workshop is to find new ideas on how to increase appetite in elderly from a sensory perspective and put this into the holistic view of appetite for life!

 Outlines of workshop

• Introduction Appetite-for-life
• Five minutes presentations by invited speakers concerning how to increase appetite from sensory perspectives
• Interactive session where the workshop audience is divided into groups. Each group discuss on the basis of a case and with inspiration from the picture above
• Short presentations from each group
• Common discussion
• Conclusions and end of workshop

 Invited Speakers:

1)     Giboreau, A., Institut Paul Bocuse, Ecully Cedex, FRANCE

2)     Kremer, S. WUR, Wageningen, NETHERLANDS

3)     Matullat, I., TTZ, Bremerhaven, GERMANY

4)     Olsson, V., Kristianstad University, SWEDEN

5)     Sulmont-Rossé, C., Issanchou, S. INRA, Dijon, or Maître, I : LUNAM Angers, France