Abstract

Nutritional Status of 35 Elderly People Residing in a Nursing Home: A Dual Challenge of Energy Surplus and Nutrient Insufficiency

Jin Wang, Yi-Wen Liu, Ainiwaer Aikebaier, Zhen Tong, Yan Zhang and Hong-Wei Guo

 To elaborate the implications underlying dietary nutrition and physical activity, and give a reasonable advice for the elderly to acquire an ideal body weight.35 older individuals aged 65 years and above were applied to conduct a nutritional survey and estimate energy expenditure for the elderly in a nursing home by a weighed- food recording, anthropometry and factorial calculation. Intakes of energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat, thiamine and riboflavin were (5.63±1.32) MJ, (193.8±51.3) g, (45.2±9.9) g, (43.3±11.6) g, (0.82±0.25) mg and (0.46±0.15) mg, respectively. The sample fraction of inadequate intakes of energy, protein, thiamine and riboflavin compared with the recommended

levels in terms of 2000 Chinese Dietary Reference Intakes was 88.6%, 77.1%, 88.6% and 100%, respectively.Total energy expenditure (TEE) was (4.90±1.26) MJ. The physical activity level was 1.12. The proportion of both of overweight and obesity based on body mass index (BMI) was 48.6%. The average of physical activity level (PAL) and nutritional status for the sampling older adults was lower compared with recommendations of 2000 Chinese Dietary Reference Intakes, but the mean energy intake did exceed the mean energy expenditure. Consequently, the elderly subjects should increase their PAL and their dietary intakes so that they can reach their own energy balance and their nutrient consumption is able to meet their nutrient requirements.