Activity, dietary intake, and anthropometry of an informal social group of Thai elderly in Bangkok

Abstract

Socio-demographic, anthropometric assessment, dietary pattern, lifestyle of 384 Thai elderly (55 males and 329 females) aged 60–94 years, who were members of an informal social activity group, were investigated. The 3-day dietary record was determined with the help of food models by random sampling of the group (seven males and 25 females). Most of the males investigated were married (88.9%), whereas 42.9% of the females were widowed. Nearly all of the elderly investigated lived with their relatives. Only 3% of the elderly had never attended school. More elderly males than females smoked or had smoked in the past, and this applies also to their drinking habits. The health situation of the individuals investigated seemed to be satisfactory. The most frequent diseases found among the elderly were chronic diseases, such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes mellitus. No statistically significant difference in body mass index (BMI), arm circumference (AC), and hip circumference was found between males and females. Weight, height, mid-arm muscle circumference (MAMC), arm span, waist, waist/hip ratio and blood pressure of the males were significantly higher than those of the females. Tricep skin-fold thickness (TSF) and subscapular skin-fold thickness (SST) were lower for males than for females. A total of 54.5% of the males and 50.5% of the females were found to be over-nourished. Less than 2% of all the individuals investigated were undernourished. No significant differences were observed for all nutrients between the males and females. Intake of dietary energy from food for males and females was 69.8 and 75.5%, respectively, compared with the Thai RDA. When calculating the intake of macro-nutrients as percentage of total calorie intake, about 17% of the total calorie intake was attributed to fat, 13% to protein and 70% to carbohydrate for the males. For the females, the figures were 17, 15, and 68%, respectively. Intake of calcium, phosphorus, vitamin B1, B2 and niacin seem to be inadequate for both sexes.