Urban Elderly's Nutritional Status as Influenced by Topical Issues such as Physical Activity and Energy Expenditure

Abstract

Background: The elderly, because of their low metabolic rate and physical activity level, they required a balance in nutrient intake and energy expenditure, but due to changing social structures in Nigeria, lack of the significance of exercise, their energy expenditure might be lesser than stored energy.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the influence of physical activity and energy expenditure of urban elderly's on their nutritional status.
Methods: The study was conducted on 220 elderly's in the Urban Areas of Abeokuta South Local Government, Ogun State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the activities engaged in and time allocated, which was subjected to NutriSurvey2007software for analysis. Anthropometric measurements were taken and BMI was calculated. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to describe and determine the relationship between variables using SPSS. P-value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: A Higher percentage (36.4%) of the respondents engaged in general activities that consumed little energy. This greatly affects their nutritional status, which was reflected in BMI classification where majority were Overweight (55.91%), 21.36% were Obese I, and 0.91% were Obese II. Comparing the association between their energy expenditure and nutritional status, it was statistically significance at p<0.05.
Conclusion: Less energy expended by the elderly's affects their BMI. Therefore, there is a need for regular exercise for elderly's in the study area at-least 30minutes road walk per day, this can make them less susceptible to illnesses related to people living a sedentary lifestyle.