Nutritional status of older adults in a community in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala

Authors

  • Jacob Abraham Department of Community Medicine, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India
  • Navaneetha N. Department of Community Medicine, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India
  • Felix Johns Department of Community Medicine, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India
  • Rajalakshmy Aiyappan Department of Community Medicine, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India
  • Mili M. Department of Community Medicine, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India
  • Priyanka Shibu Department of Community Medicine, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India
  • Elsheba Mathew Department of Community Medicine, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20175721

Keywords:

BMI, Calorie intake, Mini nutritional assessment tool, Older adults

Abstract

Background: India is said to be shifting from an undernourished to over nourished population with advances in health, economy and medical care. But there is paucity of information regarding nutritional status of older adults in the country, who are socially and economically insecure. Hence the present study attempts to assess the nutritional status of people above 60 years of age, and to find the factors associated with it.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 129 people aged above 60 years, residing in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala. Mini Nutritional Assessment tool (MNA) was used to classify the respondents as having ‘normal nutrition’ (score 23.5 and above), ‘at risk of malnutrition’ (17-23.5), ‘malnourished’ (<17). A 24-hour dietary recall was done to calculate per day calorie intake and compare with Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). The results were interpreted as adequate or deficient. Descriptive statistics, chi-square and spearman’s correlation were done to find relationship between various sociodemographic variables, MNA status, BMI and calorie intake.

Results: Females constituted 75.2%; 81.4% were unemployed; 62% belonged to rural area. Nutritional assessment showed 41.9% to be having normal nutrition, 46.5% at risk of malnutrition, and 11.6% malnourished. Caloric intake was less than the RDA in 89.1%. There was no association between calorie intake per day and MNA status. Education (p=0.025), place of residence (p=0.021), marital status (p=0.003), and family income (p=0.031) were factors significantly influencing nutritional status in elderly. There was significant correlation between MNA status and BMI (p<0.001, r=0.329).

Conclusions: Malnutrition was seen in 11.6% of older adults in this study and another major proportion was at risk of malnutrition. Better nutritional status was significantly associated with good education, urban residence, married state, and higher family income. Dietary intake was inadequate among older adults. 24-hour dietary recall reflected nutritional status of only the malnourished.

 

 

References

Gopalan C. The changing nutrition scenario. Indian J Med Res. 2013;138:392-7.

Agarwalla R, Saikia A, Baruah R. Assessment of the nutritional status of the elderly and its correlates. J Fam Community Med. 2015;22(1):39.

Shivraj M, Kusum S, Neelam M, Dayal S. Study of nutritional status in elderly in Indian population. Int J Curr Res. 2014;6(11):10253-7.

Nagarajani R. 15 million elderly Indians live all alone: census. The times of India. TNN; 2014.

Sheen N. Nutritional status of the elderly. In: Global Science and Technology Forum Pte Ltd, editor. Global Science and Technology Forum Pte Ltd; 2013 [cited 2016 Nov 29]. Available from: https://www.dropbox.com/s/y3q54rotsstvg8k/GHC%202013%20Paper_17.pdf

Yadav N, Ravindra R, Sharma S, Singh A, Mishra M, et al. Dietary habits and nutritional status of elderly living in urban areas of Allahabad district. Indian J Prev Soc Med. 2012;43(1):80-6.

Forster S, Gariballa S. Age as a determinant of nutritional status: A cross sectional study. Nutr J 2005;4(1). Available from: http://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-4-28

Jose S. Validity assessment of MNA among an elderly population in Kerala, South India. Int J Adv Res. 2014;2(2):214-21.

Oliveira MR, Fogaça KC, Leandro-Merhi VA. Nutritional status and functional capacity of hospitalized elderly. Nutr J. 2009;8:54.

Nutritional requirements and Recommended Dietary Intake for Indians; 2010. Available from; icmr.nic.in.

Lahiri S, Biswas A, Santra S, Lahiri S. Assessment of nutritional status among elderly population in a rural area of West Bengal, India. Int J Med Sci Public Health. 2015;1.

Mathew A, Das D, Sampath S, Vijayakumar M, Ramakrishnan N, Ravishankar S. Prevalence and correlates of malnutrition among elderly in an urban area in Coimbatore. Indian J Public Health. 2016;60(2):112.

White AM, Philogene GS, Fine L, Sinha S. Social Support and Self-Reported Health Status of Older Adults in the United States. Am J Public Health. 2009;99(10):1872-8.

Ogden LC, Carrol DM, Kit BK, Flegal KM. prevalence of obesity in the United States, 2009-2010. US department of health and human services, National centre for health statistics; 2010.

Inelmen EM, Sergi G, Coin A, Miotto F, Peruzza S, Enzi G. Can obesity be a risk factor in elderly people? Obes Rev Off J Int Assoc Study Obes. 2003;4(3):147-55.

VS, SD K, DG, SB. Health status of elderly- A community based study. Indian J Community Health. 2012;24(4):269-74.

Holmes B, Dick K, Nelson M. A comparison of four dietary assessment methods in materially deprived households in England. Public Health Nutr. 2008;11(5). Available from: http://www.journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S1368980007000559.

Shim J-S, Oh K, Kim HC. Dietary assessment methods in epidemiologic studies. Epidemiol Health. 2014;e2014009.

Downloads

Published

2017-12-23

How to Cite

Abraham, J., N., N., Johns, F., Aiyappan, R., M., M., Shibu, P., & Mathew, E. (2017). Nutritional status of older adults in a community in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 6(1), 210–215. https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20175721

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles