title: Socio-demographic, behavioral and functional characteristics of groups of community and institutionalized elderly Quechua Indians of Peru, and their association with nutritional status.
abstract: Socio-demographic, behavioral, functional and anthropometric data for groups of elderly Quechua Indians of Peru were used to investigate the effects of gender and lifestyle patterns on nutritional status. Two community-dwelling samples were selected for study, representative of divergent lifestyles in terms of their combination of socio-economic, demographic and cultural contexts, plus an ad-hoc sample of institutionalized individuals with controlled food intake and reduced physical activity. Results suggest that differences in socio-demographic, behavioral and functional characteristics exist between the sexes and across settings (low- vs. highland) and lifestyles (institutionalized vs. community-dwelling; semi-urban vs. rural). These factors are likely to be related to diverging dietary and physical activity patterns, and have considerable effects on the nutritional status of the respondents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Physical Anthropology Unit, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. l.fortunato@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fortunato
authors.forename: Andrea G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Drusini
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001519:Behavior; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010568:Peru; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D044382:Population Groups; D012923:Social Class