Healthy ageing through nutrition: An investigation into Mediterranean diet knowledge and strategies to support healthy eating habits in older people

Abstract

With a growing ageing population, strategies to facilitate healthy ageing are crucial. Older adults often have poor dietary habits, highlighting the need for health promotion interventions that target lifestyle behaviours, including diet. Evidence shows that following anti-inflammatory dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet, can reduce chronic disease risk factors and ultimately support healthy ageing. While many factors determine eating habits and behaviours, knowledge is a critical first step in initiating positive behaviour change by increasing awareness and motivating individuals to act. Educational interventions have been shown to improve dietary intake, but many have been delivered in group-based settings and are not tailored to older adults’ unique needs. Digital health interventions are a promising avenue for delivering nutrition education that can be designed and developed according to the needs and preferences of the target population, in this case older adults. Broadly, this thesis aims to identify and address gaps in effective strategies for improving dietary knowledge and healthy eating among older adults. Chapter 2 explores the use of educational strategies and other behaviour change techniques in Mediterranean diet interventions for older adults. Chapter 3 investigates Mediterranean diet knowledge and nutrition-related attitudes and behaviours in community-dwelling older adults in Australia. Chapter 4 describes a qualitative participatory design study that explored user needs and preferences for an online nutrition education resource. Finally, in Chapter 5, the effects of an online Mediterranean diet education resource on dietary knowledge and changes in intake are investigated. Collectively, these studies contribute to our understanding of the role of education in shaping eating habits and how digital health technologies can be used to facilitate improved dietary knowledge as a starting point for dietary behaviour change among older adults.