Abstract

This study was performed to assess the nutritional status, frequency of visiting and necessity of nutrition programs for 157 elderly(male:49, female:108) visiting public health centers in Puchon. The purpose of the study was to provide the basic data for developing a nutrition service model. The subject were investigated by interviews with a questionnaire to obtain dietary data and other information related to public health center. Blood tests for analyzing biochemical status were also carried out. The elderly showed low income status. Ninety two percent of them showed their monthly income was less than 400,000 won and 72.6% was observed as having 30,000 won/month as their pocket money. The most frequent disease reported as having or being treated were hypertension(32.6%), rheumatic arthritis(28.5%), diabetes(10.2%), and stomach disease(8.2%) for males and hypertension(33.1%), diabetes(19.4%), rheumatic arthritis(16.7%), anemia(11.1%) for females. The nutrients whose daily intakes were less than 2/3 of RDA were calcium(37.5% RDA),vitamin A(49.9% RDA), iron(60.0% of RDA) and protein(62.0% RDA) for males and vitamin A(27.7% RDA), vitamin B2 (33.3% RDA), calcium(44.1% RDA), iron(53.3% RDA), and niacin(60.0% RDA) for females, respectively. Prevalence of anemia, assessed by hemogloben using WHO definition, were 4.1% for males and 18.5% for females. The percentage of males with hypercholesterolemia( 220 mg/dl) was 2.1% and 19.4% fir females, Two percent of males and 12.0% of females were observed as having a LDL-C higher than 165 mg/dl. The mean fasting blood glucose(FBG) level of males and female was 84.2 mg/dl and 101.7 mg/dl respectively. Two percent of males and 8.3% of females were found with a FBG higher than 140 mg/dl. Seventy one percent of elderly reported they were visiting public health centers at least once per week or more frequently. They were satisfied most with the low medical bills but showed the lowest satisfaction for the facilities of the public health centers. What the nutrition service programs wanted most was nutrition counseling and guidance.

• Keywords: elderly nutrition; prevalence of disase; public health centers