In recent years, the Japanese population has been rapidly aging. We examined the effectiveness of a nutritional improvement program designed to enable elderly individuals to live independently in their community.

　We conducted pre- and post-assessments on 203 community-living elderly individuals who participated in a nutritional improvement program. We divided the participants into a low-scoring group and the other group based on their "dietary status score" from a pre-assessment.

　The results from this study are summarized as follows:

　1)　Men and women in the low-scoring group had a better "dietary status score" after the nutritional improvement program. Moreover, the "daily consumption of a dish cooked in oil" became more prevalent among the men and women. The "dietary habits score (enjoyment of meals, and favorability of current dietary habits)" of the men in the low-scoring group also improved.

　2)　TUG (Timed Up and Go Test) improved among the men and women in the low-scoring group, and women in the other group.

　The nutritional improvement program was shown to be effective for participants who had a low “dietary status score”, therefore, it may contribute to preventive care.