Objective: To identify the efficacy of group-based nutrition interventions to increase healthy eating, reduce nutrition risk, improve nutritional status, and improve physical mobility among community-dwelling older adults.
Design: Systematic review. Electronic databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Sociological Abstracts were searched on July 15, 2020, for studies published in English since January 2010. Study selection, critical appraisal (using the Joanna Briggs Institute’s critical appraisal tools), and data extraction were performed in duplicate by two independent reviewers.
Setting: Nutrition interventions delivered to groups in community-based settings were eligible. Studies delivered in acute or long-term care settings were excluded.
Participants: Community-dwelling older adults aged 55+ years. Studies targeting specific disease populations or promoting weight loss were excluded.
Results: Thirty-one experimental and quasi-experimental studies with generally unclear-high risk of bias were included. A broad range of interventions were identified, including nutrition education with behaviour change techniques (e.g., goal setting, interactive cooking demonstrations) (n=21), didactic nutrition education (n=4), interactive nutrition education (n=2), food access (n=2), and nutrition education with behaviour change techniques and food access (n=2). Group-based nutrition education with behaviour change techniques demonstrated the most promise in improving food and fluid intake, nutritional status, and healthy eating knowledge compared to baseline or control. The impact on mobility outcomes was unclear.
Conclusions: Our findings should be interpreted with caution related to generally low certainty, unclear-high risk of bias, and high heterogeneity across interventions and outcomes in this body of literature. Quality research in group-based nutrition education for older adults is needed.