Intake of energy, nutrients and food items in a ten-year cohort comparison and in a six-year longitudinal perspective: a population study of 70- and 76-year-old Swedish people.

The aim of the investigation was to study cohort differences at age 70 in probands born in 1901/02 and 1911/12 and to study longitudinal changes of dietary habits and intake of energy and nutrients between ages 70 and 76. The study is part of the gerontological and geriatric population studies in Gothenburg, Sweden. The intake of both energy and nutrients was higher in the later cohort. One explanation for this lay in the choice of food items in that cohort. Intake of energy and almost all nutrients decreased in both men and women between ages 70 and 76. Energy intake reduced by 23% in men and 20% in women. The proportion of probands with nutrient intakes below RDA increased significantly at age 76. The study revealed both cohort and longitudinal age changes in dietary habits. There is no reason to believe that elderly people are more conservative regarding their food choices than the rest of the population--at least not at the relatively young ages studied.