Nutritional status of elderly people using mini nutritional assessment tool at selected rural area of Chamarajanagara District

Worldwide the elderly population gradually increasing and that will definitely pose several challenges. Nutrition among elderly has emerged as a major public-health problem. The evidence shows that more than 50% of the elderly population is underweight and more than 90% has an energy intake below the recommended intake.

The study aim to assess the level of nutritional status of the Elderly people of rural areas of Chamarajanagar district by using mini nutritional assessment tool.

An Exploratory Descriptive Survey approach was used.

To assess the level of nutritional status among 60 elderly people of rural areas of Chamarajanagar district Non-probability, Convenient sampling technique was adopted. The level of nutritional status was measured by using mini nutritional assessment tool.

The nutritional status of the elderly as determined by the MNA tool of the 60 elderly 6.7% were found to be malnourished, 20% were at risk of malnutrition and 36% were found to be well nourished.

Present study reveals that 33.3% of elderly at risk for malnutrition and 6.7% of population are malnourished. The care of the elderly should also include the nutrition components for better addressal of the health needs of elderly and also screen and support elderly with malnutrition