Compliance with Irish food based dietary guidelines in elderly subjects recruited from rehabilitation wards and out-patient clinics in Southern region hospitals (The ELDERMET project)

The elderly population are an “at-risk” group for under-nutrition which is associated with longer duration in hospitalised care as well as increased prevalence of morbidity and mortality(1). Identifying food consumption patterns and the contribution of the main food groups to nutritional status is essential to identify those at risk of under- or over-nutrition. The aim of this study was to establish the frequency of consumption of the major food groups in two groups of elderly Irish subjects, who participated in the ELDERMET project, and to explore their compliance with the recently revised Irish food based dietary recommendations(2).