Increasing dairy consumption in the elderly

Project description:

By 2020 there will be 4.3 million Australians over the age of 65 years (annual growth 3.5%). A similar trend towards an affluent, aging population is also occurring in major export markets (Japan, China, Singapore etc). The opportunity for dairy is to fill an evidence gap, and conclusively demonstrate the benefits of increased dairy consumption by older people.

After providing irrefutable scientific evidence, Dairy Australia will work in a variety of ways to get increased dairy consumption endorsed by government, key opinion leaders, policy makers and health professionals in Australia and  export markets.

Project objective:

Increase the perceived health benefits of increased dairy food consumption for people over 65 years, and improve the opportunity/ability of this demographic to consume more dairy.

Project scope:

This project will use a diverse range of disciplines to deliver its results – a clinical trial, health economics, nutrition policy, food regulation and practical applications.

The work under this project extends from generating strong scientific evidence of the benefits of dairy for people over 65, to persuading policy makers that it makes economic sense to encourage dairy consumption in this demographic through policy change, to an increase in dairy-rich recipes used in Supportive Residential Services run for older residents.

Outcomes/benefits:

Increased dairy consumption contributes to increased farm profitability.

The project will provide critical evidence supporting the concept that an increase in the proportion of people consuming at least 2 serves of dairy per day will improve the health of the over 65 age group. To do this, we will:

• Complete a randomised controlled trial investigating the effects of consumption of at least 3 serves of dairy foods each day on risk of fractures and other aspects of health.
• Publish a paper demonstrating the savings in health care cost associated with increased dairy intake in older people.
• Use these outcomes to persuade the Government to mandate nutrition standards for aged care that include adequate dairy provision.
• Leverage nutrition policy decisions at state, national and international level in favour of increased dairy consumption by older adults.
• Work with a number of relevant groups who have an input into health policy in this area to get policy change in relation to dairy consumption by older people.

More information:

For more information, please contact Anita Lawrence, Nutrition Science Manager.