Advanced Search
Current and Breaking News for Professionals, Consumers and Media




Seniors Author: Staff Editor Last Updated: Sep 7, 2017 - 10:06:33 PM



Older Adults Who are Frail Much More Likely to be Food Insufficient

By Staff Editor
Nov 5, 2012 - 4:53:15 PM



Email Newsletter icon, E-mail Newsletter icon, Email List icon, E-mail List icon Sign up for our Ezine
For Email Marketing you can trust


Email this article
 Printer friendly page
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - CORVALLIS, Ore. – A national study of older Americans shows those who have limited mobility and low physical activity – scientifically categorized as “frail” – are five times more likely to report that they often don’t have enough to eat, defined as “food insufficiency,” than older adults who were not frail.

The nationally representative study of more than 4,700 adults older than age 60 in the United States uses data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The results are online today in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Lead author Ellen Smit, an epidemiologist at Oregon State University's College of Public Health and Human Sciences, said food insufficiency occurs when people report that they sometimes or often do not have enough food to eat. Food-insufficient older adults have been shown to have poor dietary intake, nutritional status and health status.

“Although little is known about food insufficiency as it relates to frailty, conceivably we thought if food insufficiency is associated with poorer nutritional status, it may also be associated with physical functioning and frailty,” she said.

Frailty is a state of decreased physical functioning and a significant complication of aging that increases the risk for incident falls, fractures, disability, health care expenditures, and premature mortality. People in this study are diagnosed as frail when they meet two of the following criteria: slow walking, muscular weakness, exhaustion and low physical activity.

Smit said as the population ages, with more than 20 percent of Americans expected to be older than 65 by 2030, the need for identifying clinical and population-based strategies to decrease the prevalence and consequences of frailty are needed. In her study, almost 50 percent of people were either frail, or “pre-frail,” meaning that they were at risk for decreased physical functioning.

Frail people were older, less educated, at lower income levels, more likely to be female, more likely to be smokers, and less likely to be white than adults who were not frail. Frail people were also more likely to be either underweight or obese, while at the same time eating fewer calories than people who were not frail.

“We need to target interventions on promoting availability and access to nutritious foods among frail older adults,” Smit said. “It is also important to improve nutritional status while not necessarily increasing body weight.”

Frail adults may have difficulty leaving the house, for instance, and accessing fresh fruits and vegetables. Smit said communities could work on identifying programs or nonprofit organizations that can deliver nutritious meals or fresh produce to older frail adults.

Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University, Bellarmine University, Tufts School of Medicine and Portland State University contributed to this study, which was partially supported by grants from the General Research Fund Award at Oregon State University and the National Institutes of Health.

About the OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences: The College creates connections in teaching, research and community outreach while advancing knowledge, policies and practices that improve population health in communities across Oregon and beyond.

###

For advertising and promotion on HealthNewsDigest.com please contact Mike McCurdy: [email protected] or 877-634-9180
HealthNewsDigest.com is syndicated worldwide, to thousands of journalists in all media, and health-related websites. www.HealthNewsDigest.com


Top of Page

HealthNewsDigest.com

Seniors
Latest Headlines


+ Monitoring Patch Can Help Better Catch Fevers in Seniors
+ COVID-19 Deaths Among Elderly May be Due to Genetic Limit on Cell Division
+ Seniors on Statins May Have Lower Risk of Parkinsonism
+ Simple Steps to Help Seniors Navigate Their Health Care
+ Socializing May Improve Older Adults' Cognitive Function
+ Condition that Affects Many Hospitalized Seniors
+ Older Adults in NY - Elder Abuse Impacts Over 10%
+ Seniors and Orthopedic Issues
+ Genetic Basis of High Cholesterol in Adults
+ Get Out and Have Fun! - Vaccinated Seniors



Contact Us | Job Listings | Help | Site Map | About Us
Advertising Information | HND Press Release | Submit Information | Disclaimer

Site hosted by Sanchez Productions