Rapid aging is proceeding among inhabitants of one of the oldest multistory apartment complexes in Tokyo and diminishing the need for care services is becoming essential. The dietary environment is considered to affect people's habits of preparing their own meals. We report here the result of a questionnaire survey regarding issues of improving the dietary environment based on the characteristic features of groups of elderly women divided according to their age ; middle-aged, early-stage elderlies and late-stage elderlies. Questions were related to their means of obtaining food supplies, their awareness of dietary habits and problems. The subjects were 167 inhabitants aged 55 and older who were leading independent life. Most of them shopped and cooked their meals on their own, and very few used the meal delivery service. Among early-stage elderlies, there were observed a relation between their willingness to take main dishes and that to participate in social activities(p< 0 . 001), and a relation between their willingness to take milk and milk products and frequency of going out (p<0 . 05). The result suggested that increased chances of exchange among them were desirable in order to meet their health needs, and that this could be achieved by improving neighborhood services for supplying foods and services.

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