Abstract

NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND DIETARY PATTERN IN ELDERLY PEOPLE OF TRANS YAMUNA AREA OF ALLAHABAD

Tirkey Khushboo*, NeeruBala, Verma Anisha and Sheikh Sarita

ABSTRACT

Elderly are one of the most vulnerable and high risk groups in terms of health status in any society. Nutrition is an important determinant of health in persons over the age of 60 years. Therefore a study was conducted with the following objectives; To assess the nutritional status of elderly people, to find out the dietary habits, clinical sign and symptoms and existing ailments of the selected respondent of rural areas of Allahabad. Two villages from Chaka block namely Dabhaon and Bagbana, of Allahabad district was purposively selected for the study. A sample of one hundred and fifty respondents out of which 75 were male and 75 were female, aged 60 years and above were selected. Respondent were personally interviewed with the help of pretested interview schedule by visiting the area. The pretested schedule collects the data regarding the socio-demographic profile, anthropometric measurements, food habits, dietary pattern and clinical sign and symptoms of the respondents Height in cm and weight in kg were measured with the help of weighing machine and measuring tape. Digital heart rate monitor was used to measure the Blood pressure. Dietary intake was determined by 24 hours dietary recall method and the average nutrient intake was calculated by using the food consumption tables and compared with RDA (ICMR, 2010). Among most the respondents the daily nutrient of calorie, fat, protein, carbohydrate, calcium, vitamin C and iron were less than RDA. it is concluded that mostly respondents were mildly underweight (47.33 %) followed by moderately underweight, severely underweight (28.67%, 16.67% respectively) whereas 7.33 percent respondents were normal and only 4 percent were pre-obese in rural area of Allahabad. Smoking, alcohol consumption, and excessive use of medication were mainly cause of malnutrition in males. The respondents were being made aware about the type of diet they should consume and to adopt the healthy lifestyle practices with the help of the booklet that was being prepared.

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