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Gendered Analyses of Nutrient Deficiencies Among the Elderly

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Abstract

This paper examines the factors that are associated with nutrient intake status of the elderly. Our study places special attention on the roles of physical functions, mental health, and dietary knowledge on the risk of inadequate nutrition consumption (nutrition consumption deficiencies). Using a nationwide survey of the elderly in Taiwan, we conduct empirical analysis separately by gender. Our results suggest that improving the physical conditions of male elders, the mental health of female elders, and dietary knowledge can decrease the nutrient consumption deficiencies of the elderly.

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Notes

  1. Details of the survey design and other components in ENHST can be found in Pan et al. (2005).

  2. Since extreme values of the nutrient intake may reflect the data coding errors, the average values above 4,000 kcal of energy, 250 g of protein, 100 mg of iron, 4,000 mg of sodium are excluded from the sample following Pan et al. (2004).

  3. More details can be found at the website of the Department of Health in Taiwan: http://www.doh.gov.tw/CHT2006/DM/SEARCH_MAIN.aspx?keyword=DRIs

  4. Details of the English version SF-36 can be found in Ware (1993). The contents of the Taiwanese version SF-36 survey can be found in Lu et al. (2002) and Tseng et al. (2003).

  5. The descriptions of each question used to conduct these two indexes are summarized in the survey.

  6. Due to space limitations, we did not include the detailed description of 48 questions, but they are available from the authors upon request.

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Acknowledgments

H. H. Chang would like to thank partial funding support by the College of Bioresource and Agriculture at the National Taiwan University. The authors appreciate the assistance of The Center for Survey Research of Academia Sinica in providing data. The views expressed herein are the authors’ own.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Economics, National Taiwan University, No 1, Roosevelt Rd, Sec 4, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan

    Hung-Hao Chang

  2. Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Arkansas, 217 Agriculture Building, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA

    Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr.

  3. Department of Food and Nutrition, Providence University, No 200, Zhongqi Rd., Shalu Township, Taichung County, 433, Taiwan

    Kung-Chi Chan

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  1. Hung-Hao Chang
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  2. Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr.
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  3. Kung-Chi Chan
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Correspondence to Hung-Hao Chang.

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Chang, HH., Nayga, R.M. & Chan, KC. Gendered Analyses of Nutrient Deficiencies Among the Elderly. J Fam Econ Iss 32, 268–279 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-010-9241-0

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