Nutritional status of Chinese-, Korean-, and Japanese-American elderly

To examine the nutritional status of three major subgroups of Asian-American elderly.

The sample consisted of 169 Chinese, 90 Korean, and 50 Japanese elderly who lived in five apartment buildings for senior citizens in Chicago, Ill.

Twenty-four-hour dietary recalls were used to evaluate dietary intake. Anthropometric measures of height, weight, and triceps skinfold thickness were also obtained.

Many Asian-American elderly consume an inadequate amount of dietary calcium. A large percentage of Korean elderly also consume inadequate amounts of protein and vitamins A and C. Underweight was more common than obesity among these ethnic elderly groups.

The information in this article provides valuable data to the Asian-American community for program planning as well as to health providers who work with individual Asian-American elderly to meet their nutrition needs.