Cecília Morais

Patterns of healthy lifestyle and positive health attitudes in older Europeans.

Objectives: To determine (i) the extent to which recommended lifestyle healthy behaviors are adopted and the existence of positive attitudes to health; (ii) the relative influence of socio-demographic variables on multiple healthy lifestyle behaviors and positive attitudes to health; (iii) the association between healthy lifestyle behaviors and positive attitudes to health.Design: two distinct healthy behavioral measures were developed: (i) healthy lifestyles based on physical activity, no cigarette smoking, no/moderate alcohol drinking, maintaining a “healthy” weight and having no sleeping problems and (ii) positive health attitudes based on having positive emotional attitudes, such as: self-perceived good health status, being calm, peaceful and happy for most of the time, not expecting health to get worse and regular health check-ups. A composite healthy lifestyle index, ranging from 0 (none of behaviors met) to 5 (all behaviors met) was calculated by summing up the individual’s scores for the five healthy lifestyle items. Afterwards, each individual’s index was collapsed into three levels: 0–2 equivalent to ‘level 1’ (subjectively regarded as ‘too low’), a score of 3 equivalent to ‘level 2’ (‘fair’) and 4–5 as ‘level 3’ satisfactory ‘healthy lifestyle’ practices. The same procedure was applied to the positive health attitudes index. Multinomial logistic regression analyses by a forward selection procedure were used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI).Participants: a multi-national sample consisting of 638 older Europeans from 8 countries, aged 65–74 and 75+, living alone or with others.Results and conclusions: maintaining a “healthy” weight was the most frequently cited factor in the healthy lifestyles index and therefore assumed to be the most important to the older Europeans in the study; positive attitudes to health were relatively low; participants achieved a ‘satisfactory’ level for healthy lifestyles index (level 3) more frequently than a satisfactory level for positive attitudes to health; having a satisfactory ‘healthy lifestyle’ was directly related to having a satisfactory level of positive attitudes to health based on the positive health attitudes index; income and geographical location in Europe appeared to be key predictors for meeting both the recommended healthy lifestyle factors in the index and having positive health attitudes however, the composition and nature of the study sample should be taken into consideration when considering the impact of the location on healthy lifestyles and attitudes to health across Europe.

Ageing and food consumption in Portugal: new or old paradigms?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the effects of ageing on food choice according to Portuguese elderly narratives within an eight‐country research project, the Food in Later Life (www.foodinlaterlife.org).Design/methodology/approach – The project was organized into eight interrelated but independent work packages (WPs) using semi‐structured interviews, structured questionnaires and food diaries. Each interview took approximately one hour and was complemented by a background questionnaire (SF36) and seven day food diaries (shopping and consumption). The data from the interviews were transcribed and analysed using MaxQDA. Data from the Portuguese sample are presented and complemented by the eight country samples in the case of meal patterns, functional and convenience products. The sentences used to illustrate the memories of older people are quoted.Findings – Health problems and physiological restraints along with social changes, loss of a partner and/or loneliness were identified as maj...

System of planning and evaluation of school meals

OBJECTIVE To develop a software to plan and evaluate school meals according to the main national and international standards for foods and nutrition. DESIGN Development of software. SETTING Public schools, Portugal. SUBJECTS School meals for students. RESULTS The System of Planning and Evaluation of School Meals (SPARE) is a software that allows the planning of school meals in an effective and organized way, according to the main national and international standards for food and nutrition. The regular use of this tool enables the evaluation, monitoring and verification towards continuous improvement of the quality of school meals. CONCLUSIONS The SPARE software aims to promote healthy eating by focusing on the planning and production of safe and adequate meals in the school environment. This software can be adapted to different age groups and to different contexts, attending to specific nutritional and food standards.