Assessment of the Relationship Between Anorexia of Aging and Dietary Intake

Objective: People tend to have less food consumption and energy intakes during old age. Anorexia of aging is one of the major factors reducing energy intake. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between anorexia of aging and dietary intake among Turkish elderly adults.Materials and Methods: In the study, the simplified nutritional appetite questionnaire was used to assess the anorexia of aging and a 24-hour recall was employed to evaluate dietary intake. The participants' socio-demographic characteristics (age, sex, and education) as well as their medical history (medication and chronic disease history) lifestyle-related characteristics (smoking and drinking habits and living arrangement), body mass index, and depressive symptoms were analyzed. Binary logistic regression was used to determine risk factors in predicting the anorexia of aging.Results: A total of 183 Turkish elderly adults were included in the study (mean age of 71.49 +/- 5.49 years; female, 56.3%). The prevalence rate of anorexia of aging was 22.4% in the present study. Elderly adults with anorexia of aging had a lower intake of both energy and all macronutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) (p<0.05). Furthermore, among micronutrients, elderly adults with anorexia of aging had lower consumption of iron, zinc, calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium. Moreover, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 decreased significantly in those with anorexia of aging (p<0.05). Living arrangement, depression status, and protein intake were the important predictors in the multivariate model for anorexia of aging.Conclusion: This study revealed that elderly adults with anorexia of aging had less intake of macro and micronutrients.