Interactions Between Handgrip Strength and Serum Folate and Homocysteine Levels on Cognitive Function in the Elderly Chinese Population

Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) and serum folate and homocysteine (Hcy) levels were associated with cognitive function. However, little was known whether there were interactions between HGS and serum folate and Hcy levels on cognitive function. Objective: To examine the interactions between HGS and serum folate and Hcy levels on cognitive function. Methods: This study analyzed the baseline data of the Tianjin Elderly Nutrition and Cognition Cohort study. All participants aged ≥60 years were potential eligible. HGS was measured using a grip strength dynamometer. Serum folate and Hcy levels were assayed using standard laboratory protocol. A Mini-Mental State Examination was used to assess cognitive function. Linear regressions were employed to examine the interactions between HGS and serum folate and Hcy levels on cognitive function. Results: 4,484 participants were included in this study. There were interactions between HGS and serum folate and Hcy levels on cognitive function. Furthermore, subjects with strong HGS and sufficient folate level had the best cognitive function (β= 2.018), sequentially followed by those with strong HGS and insufficient folate level (β= 1.698) and with poor HGS and sufficient folate level (β= 0.873). Similarly, cognitive function was ranked in the descending order of subjects with strong HGS and normal Hcy level (β= 1.971), strong HGS and high Hcy level (β= 1.467), and poor HGS and normal Hcy level (β= 0.657). Conclusion: There were interactions between HGS and serum folate and Hcy levels on cognitive function. However, the temporal associations cannot be examined in a cross-sectional study. Further cohort study should be conducted to confirm these associations in the future.

Development of an IoT-Based Health Promotion System for Seniors

With a reducing fertility rate and the increase in life expectancy in Taiwan, the changing structure of the population has pushed Taiwan into an aged society. The demand for elderly care environments is rapidly increasing. However, to prevent an illness for the elderly is better than to treat it. Monitoring of an individual’s health is required as a periodic activity. Using wireless technology combined with physiological measurement techniques and home care equipment can assist elderly individuals to promote health and the health care service at home. In this research, a wireless sensor network has been adopted to develop context aware health promotion for an elderly-care system. The system is divided into three subsystems: the IoT-based physiological information subsystem, the context awareness-based service subsystem, and the elderly nutrition diet and health promotion subsystem. In this system, users also can select an Aging Diet Module or an Aging Exercise Module in our app. After the user selects the Aging Diet Module, the system will record and give suggestions. Moreover, the system can integrate long-term elderly diet and exercise records, and then, assist elderly to complete personal nutrition assessment and health management. The research goal is to construct a health promotion system utilizing IoT technology. In this paper, the system’s functions and implementation approaches are introduced.

The Effectiveness of Health Literacy Based Educational Intervention on Nutritional Outcomes of Elderly

Objectives: Health literacy is one of the most important social determinants of elderly health. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the educational intervention on knowledge, attitude, and nutritional behaviors of the elderly with adequate health literacy and inadequate health literacy. Methods & Materials: An experimental study was conducted with 192 people 60 years and older in Ilam Province, Iran, from May to September 2016. The elderly were assigned into four groups (48 subjects in each group), including two intervention groups with adequate and inadequate health literacy and two control groups with sufficient and insufficient health literacy. The elderly nutrition education program consisted of four lecture sessions with questions and answers, along with an elderly nutrition manual for the intervention group. The level of health literacy among the elderly was assessed using functional health literacy in adults. The level of knowledge, attitude, and nutritional behaviors was assessed using a researcher-made questionnaire in two stages before and two months after the educational intervention. The SPSS V. 21 was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics and the Chi-square, paired t test, and Fisher exact test were used for data analysis. Results: The Mean±SD age of the men was 61.24±2.38 years, and the mean±SD age of women was 61.35±2.45 years. The majority of men with adequate health literacy were men (84.37%), while the proportion of men and women in those with inadequate health literacy was almost the same. All participants with adequate health literacy and 89.58% of those with inadequate health literacy were married. After the educational intervention, the mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and behavior in the intervention group with adequate health literacy increased significantly (P≤0.013, P≤0.015, and P<0.001, respectively). In the intervention group with inadequate health literacy, only the knowledge mean score after the intervention showed a significant increase (P≤0.035). However, there was no significant change in the mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and behavior in both control groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: According to the study Results, the effectiveness of the educational intervention in relation to nutrition of the elderly is significantly influenced by the level of health literacy.

Technology to Improve Elderly Nutrition

The ageing of the population is one of the main emerging problems for this century. Knowledge and understanding of the food ideologies and practices of this adult population is a vital issue in health policies and interventions. With the traditional tools and assumptions of ethnographic fieldwork, the research is oriented towards a series of objectives in order to complete the limited knowledge on these issues. Through some of the categories that emerge from the fieldwork, the authors analyze the ideology, practices, and representations on food in the adult population and try to propose some spaces from where technology can work on solutions.

Nutritional Interventions for Elderly and Considerations for the Development of Geriatric Foods

The process of aging is characterized by numerous changes in the body which has an overall negative effect on the health and lifestyle of elderly. Nutrition deserves special attention as an individual reaches old age. It plays a vital role in affecting the quality of life, including physical, mental and social health. The physiological decline in food intake is very common among older age and this result in nutritional deficiencies. These increased nutritional deficiencies are the major risk factors for certain chronic diseases and deteriorated age related health. Thus, the adoption of nutritional intervention can be a measure to tackle the current situation of nutritional deficiencies and promote a healthy lifestyle.