School of Public Health, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Medicine and Health Science, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 27;19(8):e0307748. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0307748. eCollection 2024.
The planet's population is aging at an incredible speed. Poor dietary practices are a major problem among the elderly. However, literature is scarce on dietary practices among elders in the study area. Therefore, the results of this study may give information to decision-makers.
This study aimed to assess dietary practices and associated factors among elderly people in Northwest Ethiopia, in 2022.
A community-based mixed study design was employed among elderly people from May 20 to July 2, 2022. Systematic random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used for selecting study participants in quantitative and qualitative studies, respectively. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire for the quantitative part and an interview guide for the qualitative part. Binary logistic regression analysis was used. A P-value less than or equal to 0.05 was used to declare statistically significant variables. A crude odds ratio and an adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval were used to measure the strength of the association. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative data analysis.
A total of 422 participants were recruited for the study. Twenty-six in-depth interviews were done. The prevalence of adequate dietary practice was only 54.5% [95% CI: (49.8, 59.2)]. It was significantly associated with being aged between 65 to 74 years (AOR: 8.32; 95 CI: 3.9, 18.1), being aged between 75 to 84 years (AOR: 2.90; 95% CI: 1.1, 7.9), eating sometimes alone (AOR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.03, 3.4), eating always with family members (AOR: 4.96; 95% CI: 2.6, 9.4), and food security (AOR: 3.13; 95% CI: 1.8, 5.4). Thematic analysis revealed three themes that interfere with the dietary practices of elders. A majority of in-depth interviewees mentioned that there were taboos and cultural beliefs which favor inadequate dietary practices of the elderly; the study participants reported that individual, economic, societal, and physiological factors are barriers affecting the dietary practices of the elderly, and all respondents have no experiences regarding elderly dietary practices.
The prevalence of adequate dietary practice was low. It was significantly associated with age, with whom feeding, and household food security status. Taboos and cultural beliefs, barriers, and experiences hampered the dietary practices of elders. Therefore, improving the dietary practices of elders focusing on advanced age, loneliness, food security, taboos, cultural beliefs, barriers, and experiences regarding dietary practices should be done.
全球人口老龄化速度令人难以置信。不良的饮食习惯是老年人面临的主要问题之一。然而，关于研究区域老年人饮食习惯的文献却很少。因此，这项研究的结果可能为决策者提供信息。
本研究旨在评估 2022 年埃塞俄比亚西北部老年人的饮食习惯及其相关因素。
采用社区为基础的混合研究设计，于 2022 年 5 月 20 日至 7 月 2 日期间对老年人进行研究。系统随机抽样和目的抽样技术分别用于定量和定性研究中选择研究参与者。数据收集使用访谈者管理的结构化问卷进行定量部分，使用访谈指南进行定性部分。采用二元逻辑回归分析。P 值小于或等于 0.05 用于宣布具有统计学意义的变量。使用粗比值比和 95%置信区间的调整比值比来衡量关联的强度。主题分析用于定性数据分析。
共有 422 名参与者参与了这项研究。进行了 26 次深入访谈。适当饮食实践的流行率仅为 54.5%[95%CI：（49.8，59.2）]。它与年龄在 65 至 74 岁之间（AOR：8.32；95CI：3.9，18.1）、年龄在 75 至 84 岁之间（AOR：2.90；95%CI：1.1，7.9）、偶尔独自进食（AOR：1.86；95%CI：1.03，3.4）、经常与家人一起进食（AOR：4.96；95%CI：2.6，9.4）和粮食安全（AOR：3.13；95%CI：1.8，5.4）显著相关。主题分析揭示了三个干扰老年人饮食实践的主题。大多数深入访谈者提到存在禁忌和文化信仰，这些禁忌和文化信仰有利于老年人不良的饮食习惯；研究参与者报告说，个人、经济、社会和生理因素是影响老年人饮食实践的障碍，所有受访者都没有关于老年人饮食实践的经验。
适当饮食实践的流行率较低。它与年龄、喂养对象和家庭粮食安全状况显著相关。禁忌和文化信仰、障碍以及关于饮食实践的经验阻碍了老年人的饮食实践。因此，应注重老年人的年龄、孤独感、粮食安全、禁忌、文化信仰、障碍和饮食实践经验，改善老年人的饮食实践。
