(Ongoing) POPEYE (POwer my Plate with divErsitY and tastE)

Age Well SG strand: Encourage active ageing

Principal Investigator: Dr Zoe Lim (Research Fellow, GERI)

Collaborating Organisation(s): NTUC Health, Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities, Agency for Integrated Care, Health Promotion Board

Gap: Studies in Singapore have reported undernutrition in about one third of community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and above, and obesity in almost 1 in 10 older adults aged 60-74. Diet quality is a common driver in addressing both forms of malnutrition, as it moves away from the focus on single nutrients (e.g. reducing salt). However, local nutrition surveys, food programmes and public health messaging rarely address diet quality.

Planned Solution: The study aims to develop a community-based intervention to improve diet quality, with a long-term goal of decreasing risk of cognitive decline and other diet-related non-communicable diseases. The findings will then be used to design a Type 2 hybrid implementation-effectiveness trial.

Anticipated Impact: At an individual level, the intervention hopes to contribute towards improved access to nutritious food, which can improve older persons’ diet quality in the short term and health status in the long-term. Community-level impact will be driven by the use of community engagement as a methodological approach, to bring positive outcomes related to social support, social capital and empowerment of community members. At a societal level, the project seeks to reduce health inequity by focusing on isolated seniors whose needs are not adequately met by existing services and programmes.

Duration: Apr 2025 to Dec 2026

Note: This project was originally titled "Improving Diet Quality of Community-Dwelling Seniors using a Community-Based Participatory Approach" or "NESLA", but has been renamed "POPEYE (POwer my Plate with diversity and tastE)" to reflect the community-driven nature of the research.

The name "POPEYE" emerged organically during engagement sessions when participating older adults were invited to create a name to foster group cohesion. One participant suggested the name inspired by Popeye's theme song—just as eating spinach makes the cartoon character Popeye stronger, the project recommends older adults to "eat a rainbow of colours" to combat disease and maintain health. The name was subsequently endorsed by other project stakeholders.