The dietary habits of older adults attending a community day centre

Abstract

Proper dietary habits are important to be adhered to, so as to reduce the complications that may be encountered later on in life as a result of poor eating habits. This led the student to carry out a small scale research study amongst senior citizens who attend day centres. The tool used was a structured interview. Convenience sampling was used to select the participants. A descriptive cross sectional design was carried out amongst 20 older adults who attend the day centre at Ghajnsielem, a village in Gozo, where senior citizens come from all over Gozo on different days of the week. The interviewees' were asked about grocery shopping, preparation of meals, food consumption as well as fluid beverage. The participants' level of education and who they lived with were also taken into consideration to assess whether there is a relationship between education and a healthy diet as well as if relatives make a difference in food choices. The results obtained showed a positive picture of the dietary habits of these citizens. Findings proved that most senior citizens consume a healthy diet. However, since this project was an undergraduate study, only a small sample size was used. Therefore, one cannot generalise the findings to a larger population. The study suffered from various limitations which the author discussed. Since, this was an educational project; the author tentatively projected some recommendations for practice as well as for further research.