Welcome to the course

Welcome to ‘Ageing well: nutrition and exercise for older adults’, developed by the University of Reading’s Department of Food and Nutrition in collaboration with colleagues from the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), the Norwegian Food Research Institute (Nofima), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Central Hospital University (CHU), Dijon.

The course is one of the outcomes of a multi-partner project (named FortiPhy) to design, develop and test new recipes and physical activity programs for the prevention of undernutrition and maintenance of muscle mass in the community-dwelling older adult population.

The course is divided into two sections, or ‘Weeks’, each of which should take about three hours of flexible study to complete.

In Week 1, you’ll find out why it’s so important that older adults maintain a nutritious, protein-rich diet. You’ll explore some of the reasons why eating well can become more difficult as we age and discover the vital role that muscle-strengthening exercises play in guarding against injury, disease and ill-health, helping us to live independently for longer. You’ll develop your own individual Action plan as you progress through the Week, enabling you to tailor what you’ve learnt to the particular adult(s) you care for.

In Week 2, you’ll watch some older adults and carers take part in a couple of workshops, learning how to fortify popular dishes with protein and trying out some simple muscle-strengthening exercises that can be carried out at home. To help you put into practice what you’ve learnt, experts will demonstrate how to tweak favourite meals and how to make the exercises count. You’ll be able to download recipe and exercise cards for future reference.

The team

Prof Lisa Methven	Lisa is Professor of Food and Sensory Science at the University of Reading. She leads the FoodBioSystems Doctoral Training Partnership for PhD students in the UK.
Dr Miriam Clegg	Miriam is a Senior Lecturer in University College Cork in Ireland. The main aim of her research is to explore strategies to improve diet and appetite across the lifespan, particularly in older adults.
Dr Claire Sulmont-Rosse	Claire is a senior scientist at INRAE, France. Her research aims at promoting healthy diets in older adults while ensuring eating stays a pleasure – two keys factors in ‘ageing well’!
Dr Ida Synnøve Grini	Ida works for the Norwegian Food Research Institute where her main focus is on different approaches to nutrition – health and consumer – as well as research on the eating habits of older adults.
Dr Isabelle Maitre	Isabelle is a lecturer researcher at the Ecole Supérieure des Agricultures in France. She works on older adults’ food behaviour, consumer-led eco-innovation and sustainable food behaviour.
Dr Rachel Smith	Rachel is an sensory and consumer researcher. She works at the intersection of psychology, food and consumer behaviour, with a PhD specialising in food cues and marketing. Her specific area of research involves the development of novel and healthy food products, from a consumer and co-creation perspective, for a variety of EU and UK funded projects.

This work received funding from ANR (ANR-20-HDHL-0003 FORTIPHY), Research Council Norway (RCN 321819), BBSRC (BB/V018329/1) under the umbrella of the European Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life” (JPI HDHL) and of the ERA-NET Cofund ERA-HDHL (GA N°696295 of the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme).

Supporters

We would also like to acknowledge the contributions and support of the Ecole Supérieure des Agricultures (ESA) and University College Cork (UCC).

Our course tip

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Share your thoughts

Alyson, an older adult who kindly contributed to the videos in this course, has shared her advice on how to enjoy ageing. How does her perspective affect how you see your role in caring for older adult(s), or how you see your own future? Share your thoughts in the Discussion area below.