title: A multidimensional assessment of nutritional and health status of rural elderly Malays.
abstract: A multidimensional assessment of nutritional and health status comprised of subjective global assessment (SGA), anthropometry function, biochemistry, dietary intake, social and health aspects was carried out on 820 older people (52.8% men and 47.2% women) from four rural areas of Peninsular Malaysia. A proportion of the subjects had been classified as either overweight (25.7%) or chronic energy deficient (20.3%). Although 49% of subjects had normal body weight, 68.4% have been classified as having mild to moderate malnutrition according to the SGA. Only 1.1% and 2.3% had low serum albumin and ferritin, respectively. Almost 80% of subjects, especially men, were at high risk of cardiovascular diseases on the basis of the assessment of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol. The majority of the subjects (87.2%) were fully independent in performing daily tasks, with men having a significantly higher score compared to women (p<0.001). However, men were less likely to be able to perform a flexibility test (50.7%) than were women (27.0%) (p<0.05). The mean energy intake for men (1412 +/- 461 kcal/d) and women (1201 +/- 392 kcal/d) were below the Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) for Malaysia, although this is a difficult assertion to make in an age-group which generally experiences declining energy expenditure. Moreover, 52.5% of men and 47.5% of women might have underreported their food intake. Dietary micronutrients most likely to be deficient were thiamin, riboflavin and calcium. It is concluded that a substantial proportion of rural elderly Malays had problems related to both undernutrition and overnutrition. An appropriate nutrition intervention program is needed to improve the nutritional status of rural elderly Malays.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. suzanas@medic.ukm.my
authors.forename: Suzana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shahar
authors.forename: Zuriati
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.forename: Afaf Ruhi Abdul
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Fatah
authors.forename: Suriah Abdul
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: Noor Aini Mohd
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Yusoff
authors.forename: Fatimah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arshad
authors.forename: Zaitun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yassin
authors.forename: Siti Nur 'Asyura
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Adznam
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D012423:Rural Health; D012737:Sex Factors; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology