OAR@ICRISATNutritional profile of the elderly in the sat (semi arid tropics) villages of Mahaboobnagar district, Telangana state, IndiaChJyothiauthorAging is a complex phenomena including physiological changes linked to social conditions; management of aged in modern society poses many problems due to emergence of nuclear families. Elderly also experience profound psychological and environmental changes such as isolation, loneliness, depression and inadequate finance. These affect dietary intake ultimately impacting nutritional status. Aging is also associated with decreased physical activity and progressive depletion of lean body mass Aged or the elderly people need utmost care to lead a normal life. The inevitable degenerative changes that occur during the aging process result in their functional decline. The current study is addressing these problems and was taken up to assess the nutritional profile of elderly in SAT villages of Mahaboob Nagar district, Telangana State, India. The mean age of elderly women of Aurepalle was the highest with 73.3yrs compared to women of Dokur village and men of both the villages. Literacy level was very poor in Dokur village with highest per cent of illiterates. The mean height, weight, BMI, MAC and calf circumferences of elderly of Dokur village were higher compared to that of elderly of Aurepalle village. The dietary diversity scores of nearly 83% and 96% of elderly men of Aurepalle and Dokur respectively were medium, while 16% and 5% of elderly in Aurepalle and Dokur had a high dietary diversity. Only 5 elderly were in the middle income group and 2 were in the high income group, and all had a medium dietary diversity, except one person in Dokur who exhibited high dietary diversity. Aurepalle had a high dietary diversity score. While majority of the dependants had a medium dietary diversity score, 5 dependents of Aurepalle had a high dietary diversity. Poor intake of protective foods among elderly could be attributed to lack of purchasing power, lowered capacity to prepare food for themselves, inability to chew food, lack of knowledge and negligence of self care. The high incidence of bone pain complaints was due to inadequate calcium intake and anaemia due to poor intake of iron rich leafy vegetables and occasional meat consumption. Malnutrition indication score envisages that 25% of elderly are in normal nutritional status, and nearly 66.7% of elderly had risk of malnutrition. Nearly 8.3% percent of elderly were identified as malnourished. Observation of clinical signs and symptoms of elderly showed a very small percentage of elderly (8.3%) having good nutritional status, especially of protein. Nearly 20% of elderly showed signs of tiredness and had symptoms like pale conjunctiva, pallor of tongue, lips, face, and skin due to anemia. Fifteen percent had spoon shaped nails indicating severe iron deficiency anemia. Comparison of present BMI with previous BMI (Body mass indices) status shows normal and same for the previous past five years. The weight of the elderly was significantly increased from the previous nutritional status to present nutritional status, and height of the elderly reduced from the previous status to present status, which is natural with aging. The results of the present study will help the nutritionists and policy makers to plan effective programmes for the benefit of elderly.Food and Nutrition2015Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University;Department of Foods and NutritionThesis

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