Serve Size and Estimated Energy and Protein Contents of Meals Prepared by ‘Meals on Wheels’ South Australia Inc.: Findings from a Meal Audit Study

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Research Excellence in Translating Nutritional Science to Good Health, Discipline of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005 Australia

Department of Nutrition and Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta 55281 Indonesia.

Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park 5042, Australia

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Adelaide Geriatrics Training and Research with Aged Care (G-TRAC) Centre, National Health and Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence Frailty Trans-Disciplinary Research to Achieve Healthy Ageing, Discipline of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia.

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Aged and Extended Care Services, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Central Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, Woodville South 5011, Australia

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Nutrition and Health Program, Health and Biosecurity Business Unit, Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Adelaide 5000, Australia.

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Foods 2018, 7(2), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods7020026

Received: 21 December 2017 / Revised: 9 February 2018 / Accepted: 12 February 2018 / Published: 20 February 2018

(This article belongs to the Section Food Nutrition)

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Abstract

An audit of ‘standard’ (STD) and ‘energy and protein fortified’ (HEHP) meals from Meals on Wheels (MOW) South Australia’s summer menu was conducted to evaluate the consistency, and serve size and nutrient contents, of their menu items. Twenty soups, 20 mains and 20 desserts from each of the STD and HEHP menus were prepared at the MOW South Australia’s kitchen and delivered to three ‘sham(dummy)-clients’ over a 5-week period. Each meal component was weighed in triplicate, to the nearest gram, the variation within the serve weight was calculated, and the overall energy and protein content of each meal was determined using FoodWorks (Xyris Software, Highgate Hill, Queensland, Australia). On average, the variability for soups and mains was ≤6% and for desserts was ≤10% and although the measured serve sizes of the MOW meals were consistently smaller than prescribed serve size, the differences were minor. As a percentage of recommended daily intakes (RDIs) for adults aged over 60 years, we calculated that the STD meals contained 21–39% for energy and 42–63% for protein while the HEHP meals contained 29–55% for energy and 46–69% for protein. These findings demonstrate that MOW meals currently meet the voluntary meal guidelines for energy and protein. View Full-Text

Keywords: meals on wheels; nutrition; community; meal service; ageing

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MDPI and ACS Style

Arjuna, T.; Miller, M.; Soenen, S.; Chapman, I.; Visvanathan, R.; Luscombe-Marsh, N.D. Serve Size and Estimated Energy and Protein Contents of Meals Prepared by ‘Meals on Wheels’ South Australia Inc.: Findings from a Meal Audit Study. Foods 2018, 7, 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods7020026

AMA Style

Arjuna T, Miller M, Soenen S, Chapman I, Visvanathan R, Luscombe-Marsh ND. Serve Size and Estimated Energy and Protein Contents of Meals Prepared by ‘Meals on Wheels’ South Australia Inc.: Findings from a Meal Audit Study. Foods. 2018; 7(2):26. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods7020026

Chicago/Turabian Style

Arjuna, Tony, Michelle Miller, Stijn Soenen, Ian Chapman, Renuka Visvanathan, and Natalie D. Luscombe-Marsh 2018. "Serve Size and Estimated Energy and Protein Contents of Meals Prepared by ‘Meals on Wheels’ South Australia Inc.: Findings from a Meal Audit Study" Foods 7, no. 2: 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods7020026

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Serve Size and Estimated Energy and Protein Contents of Meals Prepared by ‘Meals on Wheels’ South Australia Inc.: Findings from a Meal Audit Study

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