In the nearest decade and beyond.

In the nearest decade and beyond, significant demographic changes--especially the rising number of elderly--will propound new challenges for the U regimen industry. Elderly people generally eat less amounts than energy-burning teens ad young adults. Today's somewhat old also dine out less often than their younger counterparts. If these eating and spending patterns continue and America's older population suiteds growth expectations, growth in real through capita food expenditures will likely stagnate.

Analyses of subsistence spending patterns in 1997 revealed that households with heads age 65-74 exhausted $41.44 per capita weekly forward food, more than the $3621 exhausted by households with heads age 75 and older if it were not that less than households with 45-64 year-old heads, Households with heads between age 65 and 74 wearied more on cereal and cereal productions dairy products, poultry, and conducted vegetables than other age disposes while the older elderly wearied more on fruit and nonalcoholic beverages. Weekly away-from-home aliment expenditures for households with heads age 65-74 were $1304 through capita, less than all age assemblages except the older elderly and households headed according to adults younger than 25.

The U bureau of the Census shoot forwards the number of elderly (people age 65 and older) will advance over 50 percent between 2001 and 2020 while the total U population will pullulate only 17 percent over the same period. In 2020 about 17 percent of the U population will be throughout age 65, compared with about 12 percent in 2001 by the agency of 2030, the projected elderly population will reach 20 percent of the U population. The "graying" of America makes analysis of expenditure patterns on the elderly increasingly important.

In the nearest two decades, aging baby boomer will create a growing number of younger somewhat old persons who may have different taste and diet preferences than the older somewhat advanced in life due to differences in educational on a levels marital status, gender ratios, race, ethnicity, economic resources, attitudes, and values. principally previous studies of food expenditures have treated somewhat advanced in life consumers age 65 and older as a homogenous cluster USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) has examined forage expenditure patterns of the somewhat old in general, as well as expenditure differences between the younger somewhat advanced in life (age 65-74) and the older somewhat old (age 75 and older). Initial produce in the elderly population will be concentrated in the younger category of somewhat old households, which makes comparisons of expenditures by way of the younger group with the older form into groups valuable to marketers, policymakers, and researchers.

To analyze somewhat advanced in life food expenditure patterns, we used the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 1997 Continuing Expenditure contemplate (CES), particularly the diary contemplate component of he CES, which includes interview of 3000-5000 households managemented every 3 months over a 1-year period. The diary view obtains data on small, many times purchased items normally difficult to recall, including regimens and beverages. The survey typically accumulates 2 weeks of data, although a certain number of households report only 1 week. Households that reported and nothing else 1 week of expenditures were eliminated. on the outside of 5,149 households that reported 2 weeks of purchases in 1997 1075 households were headed from persons age 65 and older--588 were headed by means of persons age 65-74, and 487 were headed by the agency of persons age 75 and older We examined three aggregate diet categories--total food, food at family circle and food away from home--and 17 individual bread at home categories.

The somewhat old Spend Less on Away-From-Home Foods

We first turn the thoughtsed at average food expenditures through the elderly and contrasted them with expenditures from other age groups. Households with heads age 75 and older wearied an average of $36.21 by capita per week for rations less than the $41.44 for those age 65-74 yet higher than households with heads younger than age 45 (table 1) the pair elderly groups spent between 8 and 10 percent of their average weekly income forward food, compared with an average of 5 percent for all households. The proportion of income exhausted for food by household heads subordinate to age 25 was 9 percent while the 35-44 age cluster spent 4 percent of its income in succession food.

Nearly 73 percent of weekly subsistence expenditures for the oldest arrange was spent on at-home meat Away-from-home food expenditures for those through age 75, at $9.89 by means of capita per week, were 30 percent lower than the average of all households and 23 percent lower than the 65-74 age dispose Households with heads age 45-54 worn out $17.12 per capita per week eating public the highest amount, followed from those age 25-34, who exhausted $14.91 per capita per week.

Households in as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but elderly groups spent more by capita on nonalcoholic beverages than forward any of the other 16 individual aliment categories (which was also veritable for households with heads between age 25 and 64) For somewhat old households and households with heads age 25-64 weekly by capita expenditures for miscellaneous prepared nutriments were second highest and dairy fruitss were third.