Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taiwan, ROC.
Appetite. 2012 Feb;58(1):180-7. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2011.09.023. Epub 2011 Oct 5.
Food quality is a measure of food security in vulnerable groups. The elderly are often nutritionally vulnerable, but how much of this is reflected in food quality and determined by financial status is unclear. We determined whether expenditure on dietary quality challenges food security in the aged. We used the representative Elderly Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan during 1999-2000 (n=1783), and evaluated dietary quality by a Dietary Diversity Score (DDS, range: 0-6) based on a 24-h dietary recall. Monthly mean national food prices were used to estimate food expenditure. In general, it was found to cost more to achieve a greater DDS. The food expenditure of subjects whose DDS=6 was 2.20 times greater than the DDS ≤3 group, after controlling for covariates. Elders of lower socioeconomic status tended to choose foods which would have cost less. However, a sub-group of elders who achieve the highest DDS with limited money offer approaches to food-money management. Nutrition policy directed to food insecure groups, like the aged, could employ health promotion strategies which reduce financial barriers to healthy eating.
食品质量是弱势群体食品安全的衡量标准。老年人往往在营养方面较为脆弱，但其中有多少是由经济状况决定的，目前尚不清楚。我们旨在确定饮食质量支出是否会对老年人的食品安全构成挑战。我们使用了台湾具有代表性的 1999-2000 年老年人营养与健康调查（n=1783），并根据 24 小时膳食回忆评估了饮食质量，通过饮食多样性评分（DDS，范围：0-6）来进行评估。我们使用每月的平均全国食品价格来估算食品支出。结果发现，DDS 越高，所需支出越大。在控制了混杂因素后，DDS=6 的人群的食品支出是 DDS≤3 人群的 2.20 倍。社会经济地位较低的老年人往往会选择更便宜的食物。然而，有一部分老年人在有限的资金下达到了最高的 DDS，他们提供了一些关于资金管理的方法。针对像老年人这样的食品不安全群体的营养政策，可以采用促进健康的策略，减少健康饮食的经济障碍。
