Department of Nursing, School of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Xiangya Nursing School, Central South University, No. 172 Tong Zi Po Road Yuelu District, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China.
BMC Public Health. 2020 Feb 14;20(1):230. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-8305-9.
The Chinese government is piloting canteen services for older adults, but few studies have explored the influence of canteen services on the health of these older adults. This study aimed to investigate the impact of canteen services on older adults' general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capital in rural areas.
This study used a cross-sectional design. We selected 14 villages in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China, including seven villages with canteen services and seven villages without canteen services. Participants were 284 senior older adults (aged 75~98), including 140 residing in villages with canteen services (Canteen Group [CG]) and 144 residing in villages without canteen services (Non-Canteen Group [NCG]). We also divided the CG into two sub-groups according to the funding sources (one receiving government support only, the other receiving government support plus enterprise donations). We used a self-designed questionnaire, including sociodemographics, diet-related items (e.g., satisfaction with the meals, diet expenditure, self-evaluation of meal nutrition), and the four scales including the Chinese version of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the Chinese version of the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Social Capital Questionnaire (SCQ).
The overall mental health, satisfaction with life, and social capital of the CG were better than the NCG (P < 0.05). The nutritional status of these two groups did not show a significant difference. Participants in the CG with financial support from local government and donations from an enterprise with a better dietary diversity exhibited a better nutritional status (P < 0.05); the average satisfaction with diet and self-evaluation of food nutrition of the CG were higher than the NCG (P < 0.05); the ratio of having a diet on time in the CG was higher than that of the NCG (P < 0.05).
The free canteen services provided by the government can improve older adults' satisfaction with life and diet, and mental health status and also enrich their social capital, but this still needs to be future evidenced. More financial support for canteen services is an essential component in promoting successful aging in China.
中国政府正在试点老年人食堂服务，但很少有研究探讨食堂服务对老年人健康的影响。本研究旨在调查食堂服务对农村老年人一般心理健康、营养状况、生活满意度和社会资本的影响。
本研究采用横断面设计。我们在浙江省金华市选择了 14 个村庄，包括 7 个有食堂服务的村庄和 7 个没有食堂服务的村庄。参与者为 284 名高龄老年人（年龄 75~98 岁），其中 140 名居住在有食堂服务的村庄（食堂组 [CG]），144 名居住在没有食堂服务的村庄（非食堂组 [NCG]）。我们还根据资金来源将 CG 分为两个亚组（一个仅接受政府支持，另一个接受政府支持加企业捐赠）。我们使用自设问卷，包括社会人口统计学、与饮食相关的项目（例如，对膳食的满意度、饮食支出、自我评估膳食营养）以及四个量表，包括中文版 12 项一般健康问卷（GHQ-12）、中文版微型营养评估简表（MNA-SF）、生活满意度量表（SWLS）和社会资本问卷（SCQ）。
CG 的整体心理健康、生活满意度和社会资本均优于 NCG（P<0.05）。两组的营养状况无显著差异。接受当地政府财政支持和企业捐赠的 CG 参与者具有更好的饮食多样性，表现出更好的营养状况（P<0.05）；CG 的平均饮食满意度和自我评估食物营养更高，高于 NCG（P<0.05）；CG 按时就餐的比例高于 NCG（P<0.05）。
政府提供的免费食堂服务可以提高老年人的生活满意度和饮食，改善心理健康状况，丰富社会资本，但这仍需要进一步的证据支持。为食堂服务提供更多的财政支持是促进中国老年人成功老龄化的重要组成部分。
