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Dietary intake frequencies and nutritional risk in community‐residing older adults (1026.6)
Author(s) -
Francis Sarah,
MacNab Lindsay
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.1026.6
Subject(s) - medicine , environmental health , psychological intervention , gerontology , psychiatry
Dietary patterns and nutritional risk of older adults (OA) must first be assessed in order to develop client‐centered nutrition interventions that result in behavior change. This study examined dietary intake frequencies (DIF) and the nutritional risk of 111 community‐residing OA (age 60+) using the Dietary Screening Tool (DST). Higher DIF scores indicate desired behavior; lower total DST scores imply increased nutritional risk. Participants were primarily white, well‐educated females with limited income. Mean DIF included: fruit (M =10.56 out of 15), grains (M=10.41 out of 15), vegetables (M =8.86 out of 15), lean protein (M =5.09 out of 10), dairy (M =6.51 out of 10), processed meats (M =8.10 out of 10) and fats, sugar, and sweets (M = 12.75 out of 25). Mean total DST score was 65±12.3 (out of 100); most (n=87, 78.4%) were classified as “at nutritional risk” or “at possible nutritional risk.” Lower income OA had lower DIF of grains (p=.005) and vegetables (p=.020) and were at higher nutritional risk (p=.008) than their higher income counterparts. These results suggest nutrition programs for low‐income OA should promote grain and vegetable consumption to help reduce nutritional risk.