The foods and cooking methods included in the 107 menus created by high school students for elderly pepple at the 10th Annual Box Lunch Menu Contest, which was held in 2008, were tabulated. The menus prepared by high school students were reviewed for their appropriateness for elderly people.
High school students chose ingredients in consideration of the taste preferences of elderly people. The menus included 697 appearances of vegetables,162 appearances of seafood, 154 appearances of grains, 115 appearances of fruits, 105 appearances of meats, 100 appearances of nuts and seeds and 91 appearances of eggs."Simmering" and "baking" were the most commonly used cooking methods, whereas "steaming" and "frying" were used less frequently.
Questionnaire resposes about box lunches from a delivery service showed that elderly people preferred box lunches with good color balance and soft foods that were easy to eat. Responses showed that satisfaction with taste was about 90% and satisfaction with ease of consumption was ≥ 94%.