Influence of physical training on the food choices of elderly individuals

Practicing physical training influences appetite and palate in such way that it affects food choices in young individuals, usually contributing to healthier food choices. Elderly individuals undergo a huge reduction in taste, hormones and gastrointestinal changes also leading to appetite changes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the effects of combined training (CT) on elderly food choices. Fifty-two individuals (>60yr) were randomly placed into a CT group (aerobic and resistance exercises) and a control group (CG); 20 individuals in the CT group and 23 individuals in the CG group. Participants were physically inactive prior to the study and completed the 16-week intervention. The participants answered the food frequency questionnaire containing 84 items, before and after the interventions. There were differences in food frequencies between groups, such as a higher butter and margarine consumption and a lower fish and soup consumption in CG compared to CT, which were maintained even after 16 weeks. However, higher consumption of additional oil and a tendency to lower consumption of whipped cream in CG had become the same in CT after 16 weeks. Also, there was a trend to higher fruit consumption (3.47 +/- 2.05) and trend to lower consumption of fried snacks and additional salt in the salads for CT (0.03 +/- 0.03 and 0.63 +/- 0.48, respectively), compared to CG (2.24 +/- 1.04; 0.06 +/- 0.05 and 0.89 +/- 0.3). Therefore, despite subtle trends of improved habit changes, the CT did not effectively alter the food choices in elderly participants.