Nutrition status and its influential factors among rural elderly population

Objective To explore the nutrition status and its influential factors among rural elderly population.Methods In two villages of Anhui province,villagers aged 60 years and over were selected.The subjects were investigated with Nutrition Screening Initiative Checklist(NSIC)and the self-designed health information questionnaire.Results The average score of NSIC was 6 1.94±4.139.The rates of good,moderate nutritional risk and high nutritional risk were 21.2%,27.0% and 51.8%,respectively.The score of NSIC was significantly correlated with that of nutrition status(Spearman correlation r=0.359,P<0.0001).Ordinal regression analysis indicated that older age(OR=0.71),difficult in activities of daily living(OR=0.30),attending amusement(OR=0.81),good sleeping(OR=0.55),pocketbook from their own or their spouses(OR=0.79),well social support(OR=0.97)were protective factors.Better education(OR=1.48),child' migration for working(OR=1.51),loneliness(OR=1.04)were risk factors.Conclusion Nutrition status among rural elderly population is not good and affected by several factors.Health education and balance nutrition guidance should be streng thened.