A review on advanced colloidal systems for treating malnutrition in developed countries

• Evaluate malnutrition and obesity in developed countries. • Leverage colloidal systems to reduce energy density and enhance satiety. • Develop personalized, texture-modified foods for older adults. • Enable encapsulation and targeted release of bioactives. In developed countries, obesity and malnutrition among older adults have become severe problems. The proportion of obese people and older adults is increasing, and there are specific requirements for both groups' diet and food. However, conventional approaches, such as completely changing the diet for obesity treatment, are often ineffective in the long term. Older adults often have problems with inadequate nutrient intake because of swallowing problems with hard foods like meat or vegetables. However, these are essential dietary components because of their protein, vitamin, and mineral content. A promising way to treat malnutrition in developed countries is to use novel and complex colloidal systems, which enable modifications of food texture, improve chewability and swallowing, such as hydrogels, emulgels, bigels, multiple emulsions, foams, etc., in the manufacture of food and/or nutraceuticals. These systems also allow for the effective encapsulation of sensitive bioactive compounds, and we discuss their use as printable matrices for personalized foods with tailored textures.