Development, implementation and evaluation of a nutrition education course for senior citizens

The dietary habits and nutrition knowledge of elderly people have a direct influence on their health status and well-being. Yet, dietary habits can be improved by providing appropriate nutrition education. At the time of this study little was known about the dietary habits and nutrition knowledge of Maltese elderly people, and formal nutrition education for this sector of the population was lacking. Hence, the main aim of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate a nutrition education course for a specific group of Maltese senior citizens. Through a needs assessment interview and the use of 24-hour dietary recalls, the researcher explored the nutrition knowledge, eating habits and general health status of a group of elderly living in Siggiewi. This first phase of the study then helped the researcher to plan and implement a pilot nutrition course of three sessions of 1½ hours each. The main goals of the course were to increase the nutrition knowledge of the participants who attended the course, as well as provide them with practical tips on modifying food choices and food preparation to improve their health. A pretest-posttest design survey was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot course and to seek recommendations for similar courses. Overall, results indicated that the elderly people who participated in the needs assessment study and those who took part in the nutrition education course had an average to high nutritional knowledge. Nonetheless, it was also evident that they had some misconceptions and doubts about certain aspects of nutrition, which resulted in answering interview and questionnaire items incorrectly. On the whole, the pretest-posttest questionnaires indicated that the nutrition education course was effective enough to increase the nutritional knowledge of the elderly people in some areas, such as the Food Guide Pyramid and a balanced diet. The course was not so effective in increasing knowledge about serving sizes. This suggests that such nutrition education courses can be useful to improve nutrition knowledge and dietary habits of elderly people and should be made available in different localities around Malta and Gozo.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Malta

Year dc:date.issued

2003

• Older people -- Nutrition -- Malta
• Food preferences in old age -- Malta
• Food portions -- Malta

Statement dc:rights

• info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess

Language dc:language.iso

en

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/72790

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.um.edu.mt:123456789/72790