The project

Preventing the risk of undernutrition by fostering meal FORTIfication and PHYsical activity in older adult.

Context. For the older people, eating well is a key factor in preserving their health and preventing the onset of diseases linked to aging. "Eating well" means having a diet adapted in terms of quality and quantity, allowing the older adult to fulfil their nutritional needs. But it is also means promoting eating pleasure in order to sustain the desire to eat. However, aging may be accompanied by a decline in appetite, which predisposes the older individual to the onset of undernutrition.

Objective. The project FORTIPHY will address the nutritional and physical activity needs of older small eaters (= 70 years old) living at home. Specifically, FORTIPHY will develop new solutions allowing older people to fortify their regular meals, namely increasing caloric and protein intake without increasing the volume to be ingested. In addition, several studies have highlighted the importance of physical activity to sustain muscle mass and functional capacity. FORTIPHY will also develop a physical activity program easy to implement by frail older people living at home. To achieve these ambitious goals, the FORTIPHY project has gathered scientists covering different disciplines (food science & technology, nutrition, sensory science, consumer behavior, physical education and physiotherapy). In addition, end users (older people, caregivers) will be involved very early in the innovation process, in order to ensure the feasibility and the relevance of newly developed solutions (co-creation of solutions).

Expected results. The main expected results of FORTIPHY are:
- Design and develop new recipes to fortify regular meals with high-calorie and high-protein ingredients. These recipes will be validated in terms of bioavailability and acceptability.
- Design and develop new physical activity programs tailored to the capacities and the environment of the targeted older population.
- Assess the efficiency of fortified dishes and the added value of physical activity to prevent undernutrition.
- Develop cookbooks and MOOC (Massive open on-line courses) combining recipes and physical exercises in synergy to support the health of the aging population.
- Offer a summer school to empower professionals in creating novel business solutions aimed at enabling older people to fortify their regular meals to prevent undernutrition.

Key features. 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). To know more