SINGAPORE — A new Singapore programme is turning everyday meals into lessons on healthier ageing, with 500 seniors set to take part in a pilot focused on better nutrition and practical food choices.
The Stay Strong programme, launched on Sept. 28 by FairPrice Foundation in partnership with Tan Tock Seng Hospital and NTUC Health, uses storytelling, games and food-related activities to make nutrition advice easier to apply in daily life.
The pilot will involve seniors from 27 NTUC Health Active Ageing Centres, beginning in November. The programme is scheduled to expand to other Active Ageing Centre networks islandwide in 2027, with a longer-term target of reaching 10,000 seniors by 2030.
The simple message: Add, Swap, Reduce
Participants will learn practical ways to improve everyday meals, including adding foods rich in protein and calcium, choosing wholegrain carbohydrates and reducing foods high in sodium, sugar and saturated fat.
The programme also teaches seniors how to identify healthier choices while grocery shopping, including understanding the Healthier Choice logo and looking for lower-sodium, lower-sugar, wholegrain and lower-glycemic-index options.
Rather than relying solely on classroom-style instruction, Stay Strong uses activities designed around familiar eating situations.
One of its characters is Ah Bao, a fictional kopitiam uncle played by local actor Sugie Phua. Through videos, the character introduces common food and nutrition dilemmas and demonstrates ways to make everyday meals healthier.
From the classroom to the dinner table
Food sampling and demonstrations will give participants opportunities to see how familiar dishes can be adjusted.
Seniors will also receive a “Healthy Da Bao Box”, designed around the Health Promotion Board’s Healthy Plate concept, as well as a 14-Day Stay Strong Challenge tracker intended to encourage them to practise the programme’s “Add, Swap, Reduce” approach at home.
The emphasis is not simply on knowing what constitutes a healthy meal, but on making those choices practical when shopping, ordering takeaway food or preparing meals.
Study reveals a knowledge gap
The programme was developed using findings from a 2025 Stay Strong study conducted by FairPrice Foundation.
The study surveyed more than 500 seniors and interviewed seniors and caregivers. It found that 86% of seniors recognised the importance of eating nutritiously as they age, but more than half could not correctly identify what makes up a healthy plate.
The research also found that while more than 80% of respondents wanted to eat healthily, taste ranked as the top priority when choosing food. Cost and nutrition were tied in fourth place.
That gap between knowing healthy eating matters and putting it into practice is one of the issues the new programme is designed to address.
A bigger push toward healthy ageing
The programme also connects nutrition with common challenges associated with ageing, including osteoporosis, falls and sarcopenia, a condition involving loss of muscle mass and strength.
By taking nutrition lessons into community centres and using familiar foods and situations, organisers hope the programme can turn general health advice into habits seniors can continue using in everyday life.
The initial 500-person pilot is only the first stage. With plans to expand islandwide and eventually reach 10,000 seniors, Singapore is testing whether a more interactive approach can make healthy eating easier to understand — and easier to sustain.
And as the programme moves beyond its first group of participants, one question remains: Can changing the way seniors learn about food also change the way healthy choices reach their plates every day?
WWC ONE MEDIA G,A
