FOOD PREFERENCES ASSOCIATED WITH AGE, SEX ANDWEIGHT CATEGORY.

Abstract: A large proportion of the population is over 65 years of age and this will continue to rise inthe years to come. According to the World health organization and the US National instituteof aging, as a person ages an increasing loss of appetite leads to problems of getting thenecessary nutrition. To be able to maintain health with age, we need an improvedunderstanding of how food preferences are affected by age. The hypothesis for this project isthat food preferences are influenced by age and reflected by weight. Thus, the aim of thestudy was to map food preferences and quality of diet for people with a Swedish diet betweenthe ages of 18-65. The participants completed an electronic questionnaire with a hedonic scalefor 87 different foods and activities. The results indicate that in Sweden, age had a positiveeffect on taste preferences, towards healthier food within the age range studied. It also showedthat participants with a higher body mass index (BMI) generally had a greater preference forproducts high in sugar and fat than those with a lower BMI. This study fills an importantknowledge gap and provides insight into how the quality of individuals' diet changes withage.