Yassin Z, Low T
Department of Nutrition and Community Health, Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan.
Malays J Nutr. 1995 Mar;1(1):41-50.
As Malaysia is moving towards a rapidly developing economy, its elderly population is also expected to increase not only in numbers and proportion but also in their life expectancies. This demographic shift from a relatively young population to one that includes an increasing number of old and very old age group presents a real challenge to nutritionists and health professionals. The challenge is to maintain a healthy and vigorous elderly population who can lead fulfilling and independent lives. Health promotion and disease prevention efforts, including nutrition education, targeted towards this group can contribute important elements in meeting the challenge. The objective of the study was to assess the nutrition education needs of a sample of elderly Chinese in an urban area. The sample consisted of 34 males and 36 females, whose age ranged from 55 to 86 years. They were generally affluent and well-educated with a mean income of RM101 1.86 and 8.0 years of formal education. A self-administered questionnaire which requires 20 to 30 minutes to complete was used to collect the information. The results of the nutrition knowledge assessment indicated that the typical respondent correctly identified 16 of the 22 nutrition knowledge statements. A majority (91.4%) of the respondents recognized the fact that tomato, dark green leafy vegetables, and orange juice are good sources of vitamin C, while the statement on vitamin supplementation was correctly answered by only 15.7% of the respondents. The mean nutrition knowledge score was 26.14 with a range of between 18 and 36. The t-test indicated a significant difference (t=3.63, p_0.05) between males and females in their nutrition knowledge scores, with the males having higher mean scores. Although only 8.6% of the respondents reported they had participated before in a nutrition education programme, a majority of them believed that nutrition education can improve the nutritional and health status of the elderly. A majority (80%) of the respondents mentioned newspaper articles as their source of nutrition information, while only 8.6% indicated the dietitian as their source of information. However, the doctor was identified as a more creditable and reliable source of information by a majority.
随着马来西亚经济迅速发展，预计其老年人口不仅在数量和比例上会增加，预期寿命也会延长。这种从相对年轻的人口结构向老年和高龄人群数量不断增加的人口结构转变，给营养学家和健康专家带来了实实在在的挑战。挑战在于维持健康且精力充沛的老年人群体，使他们能够过上充实且独立的生活。针对这一群体的健康促进和疾病预防工作，包括营养教育，可为应对这一挑战提供重要因素。该研究的目的是评估城市地区老年华人样本的营养教育需求。样本包括34名男性和36名女性，年龄在55岁至86岁之间。他们总体较为富裕且受过良好教育，平均收入为1011.86林吉特，接受过8.0年的正规教育。使用一份需20至30分钟完成的自填式问卷来收集信息。营养知识评估结果表明，典型受访者正确识别了22条营养知识陈述中的16条。大多数（91.4%）受访者认识到番茄、深绿色叶菜和橙汁是维生素C的良好来源，而关于维生素补充剂的陈述只有15.7%的受访者回答正确。营养知识平均得分是26.14，范围在18至36分之间。t检验表明男性和女性在营养知识得分上存在显著差异（t = 3.63，p < 0.05），男性平均得分更高。尽管只有8.6%的受访者报告他们以前参加过营养教育项目，但他们中的大多数人认为营养教育可以改善老年人的营养和健康状况。大多数（80%）受访者提到报纸文章是他们获取营养信息的来源，而只有8.6%的人表示营养师是他们的信息来源。然而，大多数人认为医生是更可信和可靠的信息来源。
