Summary of reported findings from included studies
| Study quality | Author | Food spending | Food intake | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | Helldán et al46 | ↑, ≅ | Prevalence of healthy food habits in retired women increased (41–53%), compared to still employed women (39–45%). No change seen in men after retirement (23–29%) vs remaining employed (24–27%). Sociodemographic and health-related factors did not explain difference among women. Retirement accentuated existing sex differences in healthy food habits. | |
| High | Chung et al44 | ↓, ≅ | Spending on eating out reduced by a mean of $10 per month when after the individual retired and by $7 after the spouse retired. The wife's, but not husband's, retirement decreased the spouse's monthly spending on eating out by $13. Retirement did not affect household spending on food at home. Weight gain was weakly predicted by spending on eating out. | |
| High | Nooyens et al42 | ↑, ↓ | Men retired from former active jobs consumed less potatoes, more fish, and more juice each week, than older men still working. Men retired from sedentary jobs consumed more alcoholic beverages, more vegetables, less meat, less potatoes and less milk on a weekly basis. | |
| Medium | Abusabha et al45 | ↓ | ↑ | 48% reduced cost of F&V increased vegetable consumption from 33% to 51%; and increased fruit intake from 53% to 63%. Average spending at last supermarket trip decreased by nearly $15 and weekly Veggie Mobile shoppers spent $29 less at last supermarket visit than seniors using the programme less often. |
| Medium | Smith43 | ↓, ≅ | Involuntary retirement reduced food spending by 7–11% (depending on definition used). Effect greater for involuntarily early retired who have no employer pension and with no educational qualifications. | |
| Medium | Lundberg et al41 | ↓, ≅ | Co-habiting households decrease their food expenditures, consumed both at and away from home, by about 9% after retirement of male. Retirement in single-person household did not show any significant decrease in food consumption. | |
| Medium | Steen et al39 | ↑, ↓ | Clear decreasing tendency of intake of energy (by 7%), protein (by 8%), fat (by 10%), calcium (by 12%) and riboflavin (by 11%) from before to after retirement. High-energy food items such as pastry and potato chips increased after retirement. Small changes in other items (not specified) seen after retirement. Average number daily meals decreased after retirement (from 5.2 to 4.8). | |
| Medium | Davies et al 38 | ↑, ≅ | Mean daily fibre intake increased slightly after retirement (from 17.6±6.5 to 18.4±6.1 g/day), especially when breakfast was consumed. Percentage of participants below recommended levels of fibre did not change. Also, the main food groups contributing to dietary fibre intake (eg, vegetables, breads, breakfast cereals and fruits) remained unchanged. | |
| Low | Lauque et al 40 | ↑, ≅ | Retirement increased the percentage of participants spending over 30 min to eat lunch (from 25.5% to 45.5%), and the frequency of eating out and having guests for meals. Men ate more plant protein after retirement. The distribution of nutrients did not change after retirement, staying near recommended daily allowance except low calcium intake which increased slightly (from 750.5±270 to 781±308 mg/day in women; and from 702±186 to 837.6±239.5 mg/day in men). |
↑, increase; ↓, decrease; ≅, no change.