Nutritional status of the elderly: dietary and biochemical findings

The nutritional status of 100 elderly women and men was evaluated in terms of their dietary nutrient intakes and selected biochemical measurements. Calcium, vitamin A, and thiamin were the dietary nutrients most likely to be deficient, especially with women. Nutrient supplements, taken by 27 subjects, were generally inappropriate and frequently excessive. Forty-one percent of the group had low serum protein concentrations. Values for hematocrit, hemoglobin, serum iron and ascorbic acid, plasma vitamin A and carotene were in acceptable ranges for 90% of the subjects. Biochemical values were not significantly correlated with dietary nutrients except for hemoglobin with dietary iron and serum ascorbic acid with dietary ascorbic acid. In a subsample of 20 persons, both dietary and serum folate values were low. Twenty subjects who lived in a retirement community that provided one major meal daily consumed less food than those who were completely independent but had similar biochemical values.