NUTRIENT INTAKE AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF THE AGED IN LOW INCOME AREAS OF SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

Objective: The study was carried out to assess the nutrient intake and nutritional status of free living and non-institutionalized elderly Nigerian men and women residing in low income areas. Design, Setting and Participants: The study was cross sectional involving 140 (58-99 years) apparently healthy elderly subjects randomly selected across four low income urban and rural areas of southwest Nigeria. Measurements: Data on socio economic characteristics and dietary intake (24-hour recall) were obtained with a structured questionnaire while anthropometric data were measured and nutritional status indices were classified using WHO standards. Nutrient intake data was compared to DRI while other data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16.0. Results: Majority (84.3%) of the respondents were married and illiterate (80%). Most popular occupation were farming (47%) and trading (35.7%). Half of the respondents earn ≤ NGN1, 000 (≤US$6) and only 27% earn ≥ N6000 (US$37) monthly. The mean weight, height and arm circumference for men were 59.7 ± 6.50kg, 1.61±10.564m and 27.5 ± 9.24 cm respectively while that for women were 56.3 ± 5.72 kg, 1.57 ± 4.37m and 27.0 ± 5.22cm respectively. The mean daily energy (1805.2Kcal) and protein (23g) intake of women were significantly (p

Full text

Journal of Aging Research & Clinical Practice©
Volume 4, Number 1, 2015
NUTRIENT INTAKE AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF THE AGED
IN LOW INCOME AREAS OF SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA
W.A.O. Afolabi, I.O. Olayiwola, S.A. Sanni, O. Oyawoye
Introduction
Malnutrition is a great hazard to which the aged
appears to be more vulnerable than the younger age
groups due to problems relating to ignorance on
appropriate food choices, loneliness, social isolation
which often times lead to depression, apathy, lack of
appetite, physical disabilities, cardiovascular problems
and poverty among others. According to World
Health Organisation (WHO) (1) the elderly are defined
as persons above the age of 60 years with women
comprising a majority of this population. The elderly
population in the recent decade especially in Africa and
other developing countries appear to be increasing (2-6).
Govender (7) noted that the elderly are the gemstones
of any society that are often ignored. Their care and
wellbeing especially in rural communities depend largely
on their children, relatives and sometimes government
resources. This places a huge financial burden on
their caregivers with a consequent lack in adequately
providing for the nutritional and health needs of the
aged in their care. Inadequate household food security,
war and famine, and the indirect impact of HIV infection
and AIDS among others have been documented
as important determinants of poor nutritional status
of elderly Africans (2). All these increases in the cost
of living affects to a great extent dietary intakes and
nutritional status of not only the general populace, but
the often neglected elderly population. Furthermore, the
vulnerability of the aged being far greater than that of
the younger population shows the need for continuous
monitoring of the aged with a view to identifying the
extent of malnutrition among them in Nigeria. Several
studies (8-10) have documented poor nutritional status
among the aged. Similarly, previous studies (5, 7, 11)
have documented that the energy and nutrient intakes
of the elderly were low compared to recommended
dietary allowances. Older people are at nutritional risk,
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Food Science and Human
Ecology, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Ogun State Nigeria
Corresponding Author: W.A.O. Afolabi, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics,
College of Food Science and Human Ecology, Federal University of Agriculture,
Abeokuta Ogun State Nigeria, Email: afolabiwao@yahoo.com, Mobile: +234 803
475 0655
1
J Aging Res Clin Practice 2015;4(1):66-72
Published online February 26, 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.14283/jarcp.2015.51
66
Abstract: Objective: The study was carried out to assess the nutrient intake and nutritional status of free living and non-
institutionalized elderly Nigerian men and women residing in low income areas. Design, Setting and Participants: The study was
cross sectional involving 140 (58-99 years) apparently healthy elderly subjects randomly selected across four low income urban
and rural areas of southwest Nigeria. Measurements: Data on socio economic characteristics and dietary intake (24-hour recall)
were obtained with a structured questionnaire while anthropometric data were measured and nutritional status indices were
classified using WHO standards. Nutrient intake data was compared to DRI while other data were analyzed using Statistical
Package for Social Sciences version 16.0. Results: Majority (84.3%) of the respondents were married and illiterate (80%). Most
popular occupation were farming (47%) and trading (35.7%). Half of the respondents earn ≤ NGN1, 000 (≤US$6) and only 27%
earn ≥ N6000 (US$37) monthly. The mean weight, height and arm circumference for men were 59.7 ± 6.50kg, 1.61±10.564m and
27.5 ± 9.24 cm respectively while that for women were 56.3 ± 5.72 kg, 1.57 ± 4.37m and 27.0 ± 5.22cm respectively. The mean daily
energy (1805.2Kcal) and protein (23g) intake of women were significantly (p<0.05) lower than that of men (2044Kcal and 27.7g
respectively). Intake of protein, calcium, riboflavin, niacin and vitamin C for both men and women were below DRI while iron,
phosphorus, thiamine and energy intakes were adequate. Prevalence of underweight was low (2.9%) in this study while that
overweight (pre obesity) was high (20% for men and 22.8% for women). Weight and BMI are significantly influenced by energy
intake of the men (r=0.439, p=0.008); (r=0.352,p=0.038) and not women (r=0.229,p=0.186; r=0.320,p=0.06 respectively) while arm
circumference was significantly (p<0.05) influenced by protein intake of both men and women (r=0.333,p=0.04 and r=0.404,p=0.02)
respectively. Conclusion: This study has established a less than adequate intake of protein and some micronutrients among the
elderly population as well as a high prevalence of overweight which coexists with underweight. There is need for a functional
policy on the care of the aged in Nigeria in order to improve their nutrition, health and general wellbeing.
Key words: Nigerian, elderly, nutritional status, nutrient intake.
Received August 25, 2014
Accepted for publication December 4, 2014

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JOURNAL OF AGING RESEARCH AND CLINICAL PRACTICE©
not only because of impaired digestion, absorption or
utilization of nutrients associated with chronic disease or
drug–nutrient interactions, but also due to an interaction
between physiological, psychological and socioeconomic
factors (11). In addition, it is evident that the elderly
in developing countries will be vulnerable to health
related predicaments associated with very low income,
inadequate food intakes, poor food patterns, under-
nutrition, over-nutrition, chronic illness and diseases (12,
13, 7).
In many developing countries including Nigeria, there
is a dearth of information as well as epidemiological
data on the nutritional status of the aged since studies
regarding the nutrient intakes of these groups are limited
and isolated. Studies on children particularly infants
and preschool children appears to be more common
than studies on the aged who are equally as vulnerable
as young children to changes in social and economic
conditions. In view of this, this study was carried out to
assess the dietary habit, nutrient intake and nutritional
status of the elderly who resides in low income areas
of Ibadan in Southwest of Nigeria. It is expected that
the study will further bridge the information gap and
promote the care of the aged population.
Methodology
Study area
The study was carried out in Ibadan located in South
West Nigeria. Ibadan is the capital of Oyo State and
the third largest metropolitan area in Nigeria apart
from Kano and Lagos. It has a population of 1,338,659
according to Nigeria Census (14). Ibadan metropolitan
area is made up of eleven Local Government Areas
with 5 in the urban area of the city and 6 in the peri-
urban area of the city. However, Ibadan is inhabited by
several ethnic groups in Nigeria but the Yorubas are the
predominant ethnic group and are of middle and low
socio economic class. Ibadan has a population pyramid
similar to the national population pyramid of Nigeria
hence was judged to have similar proportion of elderly
put at 2.7% (15). According to the 2006 Census figure the
population of Ibadan South East was 266,046 and Egbeda
(319,388) respectively (16).
Study Design
This study was cross sectional and descriptive in
nature and involved apparently healthy free living non
institutionalized elderly Nigerians residing in low income
areas of Oyo state Nigeria.
Sample size and Sampling procedure
A multistage sampling technique was used for the re
search. First stage involved purposive selection of the
three local government areas. Then using classification
criteria for low income, high population density areas
(17-21). The identification of the low income areas was
further limited to an area within the selected areas that
had majority (over 60%) of its housing structure as
urban slums (no decent roofing and houses built with
mud) and with little or no access to basic facilities such
as clinics, schools, and water and toilet facilities. An
estimated 2.7% of the total population of each of the local
government areas was assumed to be aged. Household
listing was conducted for all the households with at
least one aged male or female within the defined low
income areas. Participants in the study were then selected
systematically from a list of pre listed households using
a sampling interval of five. Then one hundred and thirty
two households were randomly selected where at most
two participants were selected from a household.
A total of 140 free living and non-institutionalized
and willing aged persons participated in the study. They
were selected from the five identified low income urban
communities (Aliwo, Gbenla, Kobomoje, Oke Paadi)
and a rural community (Osegere) in the outskirts of
Ibadan. The study comprised of both males and female
in the ratio 1:1. The elderly start up age in this study was
reduced to 58 years due to lower life expectancy for men
and women in Nigeria compared to other developed
countries (22) and the fact that most of the participants
have no record of age or birth certificate and the ages
were based on estimates using historical events. The
Criteria for selection were based on the fact that the
subject must be resident in the area and not a visitor, then
he/she must have lived in the area for not less than 3-5
years prior to the study.
Ethical Approval and Consent
This study was approved by the ethical review
and research committee of the College of Food
Science and Human Ecology, Federal University of
Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun state, Nigeria (Ref 2011/
COLFHEC/043). The subjects were also duly informed
and verbal consent of the participants and their children
was obtained before they were allowed to participate in
the study.
Method of Data Collection
A structured pretested interviewer administered
questionnaire was used to obtain information in this
study. The questionnaire contained sections seeking the
following information
i. Socio demographic and economic data
ii. Dietary recall (24-hour)
iii. Anthropometric data
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NUTRIENT INTAKE AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF THE AGED IN LOW INCOME AREAS OF SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA
3
Dietary recall
With the aid of 24-hour dietary recall format, the
respondents were asked to recall all foods and drinks
including in-between meals consumed within the
previous 24 hours. The source, time of consumption and
estimated cost of each meal was also obtained. Other
caregivers within the households especially children of
the aged assisted in providing information on portion
sizes and food description were confirmed with the
aid of food models and household measures and were
converted to grams using weighing scales before leaving
the households. The nutrient intakes of the individual
subjects were then calculated using a combination of
Food Composition tables compiled by FAO (15) and
Oguntona and Akinyele (24).
Anthropometric data
Anthropometric measurement collected includes
weight, height and upper arm circumference. The weight
of the subjects was measured while standing with both
arms by the side and with only light clothing on. The
pointer of the weighing scale (Hanson model) was
adjusted to zero before each weighing and was recorded
to the nearest 0.1kg
In measuring the height of the respondents, a locally
constructed but standardized height meter was placed
behind the heels of each subject and the height was
measured while each individual was standing with the
head fixed against the height meter and the level just
above the hair was marked and recorded to the nearest
0.1cm.
The upper arm circumference was recorded as
a measure to reflect protein and fat intake adequacy.
The mid upper arm circumference was taken using
WHO procedures (23). This was measured using a
non stretchable tape measure. The measurement was
taken in centimeters with the non elastic tape measure
placed firmly on the left mid upper arm, at the mid-
point between the acromion process of the scapular and
the olecranon process of the ulna bone and compared to
standards by Jellife (25).
The body mass index of the aged were calculated as
weight of each individual in kg divided by the square of
the height in metres, values were then compared to WHO
(26) reference standards.
Method of Data Analysis
Statistical Package for Social Sciences Software (27)
was used to analyze data obtained from questionnaire
and represented as frequencies, percentages, means
and Standard deviations. linear regression analyses
(Bivariate) were also carried out to establish relationships
and measure the effect of variations between variables
after adjusting for age (protein and energy intakes were
used as the dependent variables). Level of significance
was defined at 95% confidence interval (p<0.05).
Adequacy of nutrient intakes was compared with Dietary
Reference intakes (DRI) (28).
Results
The socio economic and demographic characteristics
of respondents are presented in table 1. Most (84.3%)
of the respondents were married while about 16%
were widowed. Less than 20% of the respondents were
educated and their major occupation was farming
(47.1%) and trading (35.7%). Half of the respondents
earn a monthly income ≤1000NGN (<US$6). Fifty four
percent of the houses were constructed with cement but
most (52.9%) of these houses had no toilet facilities and
defecation is usually done in and around the houses in
the urban low income areas and surrounding bushes in
the rural area. Water is usually (100%) sourced from a
community stand pipe in the urban low income areas
and a river located close to the rural community. Table
2 shows information on the mean anthropometric
indices of the respondents. The men had slightly higher
weight (59.6kg), height (161.4cm) and arm circumference
(27.5cm) compared to the women (56.3kg, 156.7cm, and
27.0cm respectively). The body mass index of the women
was slightly higher (22.97kg/m2) than that of the men
(22.77kg/m2).
The usual feeding frequency per day for all the
respondents was three times with breakfast customarily
being consumed between 7:00-8:00 am, lunch at 1:30-
2:30 pm and dinner between 7:30pm and 8:30 pm daily.
The food of choice of these group of people for breakfast
was ‘hot maize porridge or pap’ (eko) served with
moinmoin (steamed bean pudding) or Akara (fried bean
paste). During lunch, amala (prepared from yam flour)/
lafun (cassava based) is preferred with either Ewedu
(Cochorus olitorus), okro, vegetable-melon soup, bean
soup (Gbegiri) and stew served with or without meat or
fish while either eko/agidi and Akara or mashed beans
and stew are the usual meals for dinner. Breakfast and
dinner are usually purchased from food vendors by
most (80.3% and 87.1%) of the respondents while lunch
is mostly prepared at home (76.5%). The cost of breakfast
and dinner for majority (94%) of the aged in this study
ranges NGN 100-150 per individual. Snacks or between
meals is not common among this population and fruits
are only consumed when they are in season.
About 74% of the women were within the normal
range of BMI, 20% were overweight while 5.7% were
underweight. Among the men, however, about 87% had
healthy BMI range, 8.6% were overweight while only
2.9% were found to be underweight. Nutrient intake
analysis shown in Table 5 indicated that the mean intake
of energy (2044 Kcal/day) carbohydrate (388.3g), protein
(27.7g) and fat (42.2g) for men was significantly (p<0.05)
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JOURNAL OF AGING RESEARCH AND CLINICAL PRACTICE©
higher than that of the women. Similarly intakes of
micronutrients including phosphorus, iron, thiamine,
riboflavin niacin and Vitamin C were higher among the
men than the women except for the intake of calcium
which was higher in the women than men. In terms
of recommended daily intakes, the intakes of energy
and phosphorus were adequate for men while intakes
of iron, carbohydrate and thiamine were far above the
recommended intakes and the intakes of protein, fat,
calcium, riboflavin, niacin and Vitamin C were below
the DRI for the men. Among the women, the higher
intake of calcium compared to the men did not translate
into adequate intake as they consumed it in amounts
far below recommended intakes. However, the intakes
of energy and phosphorus among the women were
adequate while that of carbohydrate, iron, and thiamine
were above the recommended amounts, and the intakes
of protein, fat, riboflavin, niacin and vitamin C were
below the recommended intakes. Energy intake was
observed to significantly increase with BMI (r=0.352,
p=0.038) (table 7) among the men, this accounts for
about 10% increase in BMI while 90% is accounted for
by other factors. Similarly, energy intake also increased
with weight and arm circumference. Linear regression
coefficients of determination (adjusted R2) after adjusting
for age indicates that energy intake influences almost
17% increase in weight for the men while it accounts for
only 11.7% variation in arm circumference. Age did not
influence either energy or protein intakes among the
men and women. Furthermore, protein intakes were
also significantly (p<0.05) associated with variations in
weight, BMI and arm circumference for men accounting
for approximately 25% and 16% variation in weight and
BMI and only 9% for arm circumference of men. Among
the women no significant relationship exists between
energy intake, weight, and BMI and arm circumference.
However, their arm circumference, weight and BMI were
significantly influenced by their protein intake. Their
protein intake similarly accounted for 13.2%, 12.7% and
13.8% variations in weight, BMI, and arm circumference
respectively.
Discussion
This present study assessed the nutrient intake and
nutritional status of free living, non-institutionalized
elderly men and women in some low income urban and
rural communities in Southwest Nigeria. More than half
of the participants in this study were less than 68 years,
this may be partly due to poor survival capacities among
this population entrenched in the extent of poverty in the
country, this suggests that only a very few proportion
of elderly Nigerians live till age 80 years and above. The
women were older compared to the men in this study.
The men were taller than the women and this is similar
to the findings among the elderly in Asaba, Delta state in
South-South (29) Nigeria as well as in southwest Nigeria
(30). However, the men weighed more than the women
contrary to the reports of Odenigbo et al. (29) among
similar populations but different ethnic group. We
observed a significantly decreasing pattern of height and
arm circumference with age among the women compared
to the men who had these trends increasing with age but
not statistically significant. This may be due to the fact
that majority of the men were still engaged in farming
and reasonably engaged in a vocation involving regular
muscular exercise. A similar trend was also reported
Table 1
Socio Demographic and Economic Characteristics of
Aged in Low income areas of Ibadan
Variable Frequency Percentage
Age (years)
58-68 76 54.3
69-79 44 31.4
80-89 12 8.6
90-99 8 5.7
Marital status
Married 118 84.3
Widowed 22 15.7
Separated 0 0
Literacy rate
Illiterate 112 80.0
10 School certicate 26 18.6
2 0School certicate 2 1.4
Occupation
Farming 66 47.1
Trading 50 35.7
Craft work 12 8.6
None 12 8.6
Monthly Income from occupation
N 0-1000 70 50.0
N1001-6000 32 22.9
N6001 and above 38 27.1
Housing Structure
Mud 64 45.7
Cement 76 54.3
Toilet type
Pit Latrine 66 47.1
Water Cistern 0 0
No structured toilet (bush) 74 52.9
Source of water
Pipeborne water 0 0
Community stand pipe* 140 100
River* 140 100
Source of meal
Breakfast
Food vendor 112 80.0
Home prepared 28 20.0
Lunch
Food Vendor 33 23.6
Home prepared 107 76.4
Dinner 87.1
Food vendor 122 12.9
Home prepared 18
Cost of meal
NGN1-99.9 2 1.4
NGN 100-150 132 94.3
>NGN150 6 4.3
*Multiple response
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NUTRIENT INTAKE AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF THE AGED IN LOW INCOME AREAS OF SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA
5
among elderly Nigerians (29). Among the elderly
population in this study, height, arm circumference and
weight increased with BMI. Body weight also decreased
with age among the women, this finding is similar to
that of Suraih et al., (31) which reported that decline in
body weight among women was greater than that of the
men this may be associated with reduction in body water
and muscle mass (6, 32) as well as social, health care,
personal morbidity, availability and accessibility issues.
Similar to the findings of Seong et al. (6), we found that
the BMI of men decreased with age; this should not be
interpreted as due to the ageing process but selective
survival, they further affirmed that people with lower
BMI tend to survive with increasing age thus shifting
the BMI distribution of survivors downwards (33). The
mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) were measured
to reflect risk of malnutrition in this study, MUAC has
been documented to be a more sensitive index than
BMI in revealing under-nutrition among the elderly
(2, 34). We observed that the arm circumference of the
elderly in this study was strongly related to their BMI.
Although majority of the elderly in this study appeared
to have MUAC ≥ 80th percentile, the fact that a low
proportion of under-nutrition exists among them still
emphasizes the need for close monitoring and care of the
aged. The level of under-nutrition in this study (using
<22cm for women and 23cm for men as cutoff points) by
MUAC was 4.3% while by BMI it was 5.7%. Mid upper
arm circumference has been shown to be influenced by
protein and fat intakes of individuals. In general, the
nutrient intakes of both men and women in this study
were low compared to DRI except for the intakes of
energy for the women. The pattern of dietary intake
of the elderly in this study supports the findings of a
similar study in Ibadan southwest Nigeria (35) where
the dishes were mostly dominated by cassava products
(eba and amala), cereals (rice), legumes by beans (Akara
or moi moi) and tubers (yam eaten boiled or pounded).
The foods consumed by the elderly in this study were
mostly from plant based sources and animal based foods
are only consumed when they have economic access to it.
This may be majorly responsible for the low protein and
very high carbohydrate intakes among them. Intake of
energy and protein appeared to increase with income in
the study. Low intakes of protein results in malnutrition
and thus increases susceptibility to infections whilst
Table 3
Mid Upper Arm Circumference Evaluation of the Aged in Southwest Nigeria
% standard Level of Nutrition Male Female Total % Total
≥90 Acceptable 46 48 94 67.1
80% Mild under-nutrition 22 18 40 28.6
70% Moderate under-nutrition 2 4 6 4.3
<60 Severe under-nutrition 0 0 0 0
Table 2
Mean anthropometric indices of aged in low income areas of Ibadan by sex
Weight (kg) Height (cm) Arm Circumference (cm) BMI Kg/m2
Male 59.6±6.500 161.4±10.564 27.5±2.918 22.8±2.357
Female 56.3±5.723 156.7±4.367 27.0±3.000 23.0±2.491
Table 4
Nutritional Status of the aged in low income areas by BMI
Classication Men Women
Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Underweight 2 2.9 4 5.7
Normal 61 87.1 52 74.3
Overweight 6 8.6 14 20.0
Obese 0 0 0 0
Table 5
Average Daily Nutrient intake of the Aged in Low income Areas of Nigeria
Energy
(Kcal)
CHO (g) Protein (g) Fat (g) Calcium
(mg)
Phosphorus
(mg)
Iron (mg) Thiamine
(mg)
Riboavin
(mg)
Niacin (mg) Vitamin C
(mg)
Men 2044 388.3 27.7 42.2 568.9 684.9 20.9 1.2 0.7 8.8 24.6
%DRI 97.2 298.3 49.5 72.8 47.4 97.8 261.3 100 53.9 55.0 27.3
Women 1805.2 353.1 23.0 33.4 653.7 674.1 20.1 1.2 0.7 8.9 17.5
%DRI 100.3 271.6 50.0 66.8 54.5 96.3 251.3 109 63.6 63.6 23.3
Sig(2-tailed) 0.014* 0.00* 0.049* 0.092 0.021* 0.785 0.816 0.962 0.897 0.775 0.056
*Statistically signicant at 95%CI
70

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JOURNAL OF AGING RESEARCH AND CLINICAL PRACTICE©
infection is recognized to have a synergistic relationship
with malnutrition (26). Fruits are consumed in lesser
amounts compared to vegetables; they (fruits) are
consumed only when they are in season while the reason
for increased green vegetable consumption among the
study group may be adduced to the fact that many south
western Nigerian based dishes are often consumed with
green vegetables (36). Corchorus. olitorus is usually
recommended for pregnant women and nursing
mothers due to its richness in iron (36-39). This may
be responsible for the very high iron intakes among
the subjects in this study. Reports of many studies
(3, 5, 39) suggest that older adults tend to have poor
nutrient intakes. Although, energy and carbohydrate
were the major macronutrients consumed in adequate
amount in this study, protein and fat intake were low.
Despite that the energy intake in this study exceeded
6.3MJ (1500Kcal) which was argued to imply difficulty in
meeting requirements for vitamins and minerals (40) , the
inability to meet the requirements for some vitamins and
calcium in this study suggests that adequacy in energy
intake does not imply adequate intakes of micronutrients.
Ngatia et al. (41) documented very high carbohydrate
intake among the elderly in Kenya, a similar study on
the elderly in Zimbabwe (42) and India (43) documented
very low protein intakes. Another study in south-south
(44) and rural southwestern regions of Nigeria (45)
documented very low intakes of thiamin, riboflavin and
Table 6
Mean daily Energy and protein intake of the respondents by Income
Frequency Monthly income Energy intake (Kcal) Protein intake (g)
70 NGN 0-1000 (US$6) 1824±1.967 26.4±0.987
32 NGN1001-6000 (US$6-35) 2062±4.233 30.1±1.354
38 NGN≥6000
(US≥$35) 2520±3.213 44±2.056
NGN- Nigerian naira.
Table 7
Food habit of the Low income aged in Ibadan
Meal Usual time Predominant dish Average Estimated cost NGN
Breakfast 7:00-8:00 pm Hot pap(eko) with moi moi or Akara 135 (US$0.79)
Lunch 1:30- 2:30 pm Amala/ Lafun with Ewedu/okro/vege-
table melon soup and stew served with
or without meat/sh
150 (US $0.88)
Dinner 7:30-8:30 pm Eko and Akara or mashed beans and
stew
100 (US$0.6)
Table 8
Relationship between Anthropometric Variables and Nutrient Intakes of the aged Men
pWeight pBMI pArm circumference
Energy intake
r 0.439 0.352 0.379
Adjusted r2 0.168 0.098 0.117
p- value 0.008* 0.038* 0.025*
Protein intake
r 0.519 0.426 0.333
“Adjusted r2 0.247 0.156 0.085
p-value 0.001* 0.011* 0.024*
*statistically signicant at 95% condence interval; p(All variables were adjusted for age.)
Table 9
Relationship between Anthropometric Variables and nutrient intakes of aged women
pWeight pBMI pArm circumference
Energy intake
r 0.229 0.320 0.279
Adjusted r2 0.024 0.075 0.050
p- value 0.186 0.060 0.105
Protein intake
r 0.397 0.391 0.404
Adjusted r2 0.132 0.127 0.138
p-value 0.018* 0.020* 0.016*
*statistically signicant at 95% condence interval; p(All variables were adjusted for age.)
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NUTRIENT INTAKE AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF THE AGED IN LOW INCOME AREAS OF SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA
7
niacin among elderly populations; this is similar to the
findings of this study where the intake of riboflavin and
niacin were low.
In conclusion, this study has shown that the nutrient
intake of the elderly is inadequate especially in protein
and micronutrients which is a consequence of low
intake of food of animal origin and fruits. The study
also confirmed that mid upper arm circumference is a
better index for assessment of under-nutrition among the
elderly and is influenced strongly by their protein and
energy intake. There is a heightened need to adequately
improve their intakes through promoting appropriate
dietary practices and increasing their access to food
through community support.
Ethical Standards: This study was approved by the ethical review and research
committee of the College of Food Science and Human Ecology, Federal university
of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun state, Nigeria (Ref 2011/COLFHEC/043) and all
methods used comply with the research and ethical laws of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria.
Conflicts of Interest: There was no funding received for this research. All
authors declared no conflict of interest.
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