Malnutrition in Free-living Elderly in Rural South India: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Overview

Journal Public Health Nutr

Publisher Cambridge University Press

Date 2009 Oct 8

PMID 19807935

Citations 31

Authors

Aditya Vedantam

Vijay Subramanian

Nicholas Vijay Rao

K R John

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of malnutrition among free-living elderly in a rural population of south India.

Design: Cross-sectional study. Nutritional status was assessed using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) questionnaire, which is an eighteen-item nutritional screening instrument used in the elderly.

Setting: Kaniyambadi block, a rural development block in the state of Tamil Nadu, south India.

Subjects: Community-dwelling elderly (aged 60 years and above).

Results: As evaluated by the MNA, 14 % of the 227 subjects were malnourished and 49 % were at risk of malnourishment. No significant difference was found between men and women. The majority of the elderly were living with their children, had no income and consumed three meals per day. Older age (P < 0.001), decreased food intake (P < 0.001) and consuming fewer meals (P < 0.001) were independently associated with lower MNA scores.

Conclusions: More than 60 % of the subjects had low MNA scores (<23.5) indicating that deficient protein-energy intake is common among rural elderly of south India and requires more attention.

Citing Articles

Global prevalence of malnutrition in older adults: A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.

Salari N, Darvishi N, Bartina Y, Keshavarzi F, Hosseinian-Far M, Mohammadi M Public Health Pract (Oxf). 2025; 9:100583.

PMID: 39885903 PMC: 11780955. DOI: 10.1016/j.puhip.2025.100583.

The role of comprehensive geriatric assessment in the identification of different nutritional status in geriatric patients: a real-world, cross-sectional study.

Ju Y, Lin X, Zhang K, Yang D, Cao M, Jin H Front Nutr. 2024; 10:1166361.

PMID: 38260073 PMC: 10800699. DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1166361.

Defining anthropometric thresholds (mid-arm circumference and calf circumference) in older adults residing in the community: a cross-sectional analysis using data from the population representative Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI DAD).

Bhagwasia M, Rao A, Banerjee J, Bajpai S, Khobragade P, Raman A BMJ Open. 2023; 13(12):e077530.

PMID: 38151275 PMC: 10753742. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077530.

Assessment of nutritional status using anthropometric index among older adult and elderly population in India.

Khan J, Chattopadhyay A, Shaw S Sci Rep. 2023; 13(1):13015.

PMID: 37563173 PMC: 10415320. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39167-6.

Malnutrition is associated with increased disease risk in older people in the Makkah region of Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study.

Althaiban M, Aljefree N, Almoraie N, Shatwan I Front Public Health. 2023; 11:1149739.

PMID: 37077189 PMC: 10106578. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1149739.