Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out the common characteristics of eating behaviors of the long-lived elderly in order to offer the basic data for establishing dietary guidelines for a long and healthy life for the general population. The subjects were three-hundred elderly people over age 85 living in Kyungpook Sung-ju who have no problems in daily living. The general characteristics, nutrition knowledge and attitudes, meal patterns, and food preferences of the subjects were surveyed by individual intervies. The levels of the nutrition knowledge of the subjects were very low(average score ; 4.3) and the correlation coefficient between their nutrition knowledge and attitude score was also low(r=0.323, p=0.000). Most of the subjects(93%) had a regular meal pattern consuming three meals a day. The major staple food was rice mixed with other grains(75%) and the number of side dishes was mostly under four(99%). A majority(73%) had no habit of overeating and 51% of the subjects were taking snacks besides regular meals. Thirty one percent of the subjects had drinking habits and 80% of the drinking subjects had over 40 years of drinking history. The most common frequencies for intakes of various food groups were ; more than once a day(95%) for vegetables ; 2~3 times a week(74%) for green and orange color vegetables ; 2~3 times a week(72%) for fruits ; once a day(70%) for fish, eggs and legumes ; 2~3 times a week(49%) for milk ; 2~3 times a week(72%) for fruits ; once a day(70%) for fish, eggs and legumes ; 2-3 times a week(49%) for milk ; 2-3 times a week(85%) for seaweeds and 2-3 times a week(81%) for foods cooked with oil. The most preferred foods by the subjects were white rice(staple foods), soybean paste soup(soups), beef and eggs(meats and eggs), yellow croaker and hair tail(fish and shellfish), yoghurt(milk and milk products), all vegetables except carrot(vegetables), and watermelon(fruits). The popular food preparation methods included mixing with seasonings and the most preferred taste was sweet. The results showed that the eating pattern of long-lived elderly was characterized by regularity, simplicity, and no overeating.

• Keywords: the long-lived elderly; nurition knoweledge; nutrition attitude; food preference; eating behaviors