Activity, Dietary Intake, And Anthropometry Of An Informal Social Group

      572 Faculty of Tropical Medicine ACTIVITY, DIETARY INTAKE, AND ANTHROPOMETRY OF AN INFORMAL SOCIAL GROUP OF THAI ELDERLY IN BANGKOK Praneet Pongpaew1, Rungsunn Tungtrongchitr1, Benjaluck Phonrat1, Niyomsri Vudhivai1, Pornrutsami Jintaridhi1, Srivika Vorasart1, Yaowaman Chantaranipapong1, Venus Supawan1, Duangkamol Viroonudomphol1, Sirivan Trivunyatkul1, Chuthaporn Tongboonchoo1, Frank Peter Schelp2 1Department of Tropical Nutrition and Food Science, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University; 2Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Social Medicine, Free University Berlin, Germany.

Key words: Activity, anthropometry, Thai elderly                     Socio-demographic, anthropometric assessment, dietary pattern, lifestyle and 3 day dietary records of 384 Thai elderly (55 males and 329 females) aged 60-94 years, who were members of an informal social activity groups, were investigated. Most males were married (88.9%) whereas 42.9% of females were widowed.

Nearly all of the elderly lived with their relatives. Only 3% of the elderly had never attended school. Males smoked or had smoked in the past, more than the female elderly, and their drinking habits were similar to their smoking habits. The health situation of the individuals under investigation seemed to be satisfactory, however, the most frequent diseases among the elderly were chronic diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes mellitus.

No statistically significant difference in body mass index (BMI), arm circumference (AMC), and hip circumference was found between males and females. Weight, height, mid-arm muscle circumference (MAMC), armspan, waist, waist/hip ratio and blood pressure of the males were significantly higher than those of the females. Tricep skinfold thickness (TSF) and subscapular skinfold thickness (SST) were lower for males in comparison with females. 54.

5% of males and 50.5% of females were found to be overnourished and less than 2% of all the individuals under investigation were undernourished. There were no significant differences for all nutrients between the males and females. Intake of dietary energy from food of males and females were 69.

8% and 75.5 % respectively, compared with Thai RDA. When calculating the intake of macro-nutrients as the percentage of total calorie intake, about 17% of the total calorie intake is attributed to fat, 13% to protein and 70% to carbohydrate for males, whereas the figures for females were 17%, 15%, and 68%. Intake of calcium, phosphorus, vitamin B1, B2 and niacin seem to be inadequate for both sexes.

(Submitted to Archieve of Gerontology and Geriatric 1999.)
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