Biography
I am professor of Nutrition at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. I studied Food Sciences and Nutrition at Shiraz University and graduated befor obtaining a Master and Doctorate in Nutrition from Tehran University of Medical Sciences. I focoused much of my work on metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes and liver diseases. I published about 50 papers on life risk factors for metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes and liver diseases. Actually I am member of the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.
Eftekhari, M.
Poster
Prevalence of malnutrition in an elderly population of Shiraz, Iran
Background and Objective: The risk of malnutrition is increased by aging. This is due to the insufficient food intake, weakening illnesses, social loneliness, economical limitations and etc. which not only increase the susceptibility to the development of disease, but also causes decreasing the quality of life. The purpose of the following study was to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and its relation to socio-demographic factors in elderly membered in “Jahandidegan Council” of Shiraz, in 2009.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 180 elderly of “Jahandidegan Council”, by simple random sampling, were selected and the data was collected by two questionnaires; the socio-demographic and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) as the elderly nutritional screening tool. By using SPSS version 16 and utilizing ANOVA, t-test and Mann-Whitney test, collected data was analyzed.
Results: The results of the study showed that 1.1% and 12.8% of elderly were malnourished and at the risk of malnutrition, respectively. There was significant relation between education with the development of the disease (p<0.003). Age, sex, marriage status and previous occupation were not significantly correlated to malnutrition.
Conclusion: Regarding the importance of malnutrition in aging, continuing the current process of giving comprehensive nutrition education to this vulnerable group in order to enhance the nutritional information and improving the quality of the life is proposed. On the other hand, in any public health programme to promote optimal health, improving nutrition status must be included.