Assessing nutrient adequacy, nutritional risk, body mass index, appetite, food practices, and diet satisfaction among elderly Chinese living in South Florida

The study was designed to identify the nutritional adequacy of elderly Chinese to provide health practitioners an understanding of this growing segment of the Asian population. Structural interviews were conducted with 100 Chinese South Floridians, aged ≥ 60, recruited through eight community-based organizations and chain referral. Dietary adequacy was evaluated using 24-hour dietary recall, DETERMINE Your Nutritional Health checklist, body mass index, Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire, food practices scale, and diet satisfaction scale. The subjects included 59% females, 98% foreign-born, 23% non-English speakers, 78% lived in US ≥ 20 years, mean age 70.9±6.8. Inadequate intake was noted for vitamin A, vitamin E, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Classifications of nutritional risk were 48% low, 42% moderate, and 10% high. WHO weight classifications were 3% underweight, 55% normal, 35% overweight, and 7% obese. Of importance were traditional Chinese dishes (86%), Chinese celebrations (55%), and Chinese nutritional health practices (52%) including consuming tonic foods and avoiding cold food. Nevertheless, 41% reported that depending on others to help them with food shopping always or sometimes restrained their preference for maintaining food practice. One in five subjects did not think the way they ate was good for their health, one in three subjects compromised quality and quantity of their food intake as a consequence of eating alone, and one in two subjects were not always satisfied with food in grocery stores. The implication for health practitioners is that elderly Chinese with diet-related problems are at increased health risk and could benefit from targeted nutrition interventions.