Dietary, anthropometric, hematological and biochemical assessment of the nutritional status of centenarians and elderly people in Okinawa, Japan

Objective: The population of old people has increased and nutritional disorders are common among them. The assessment of nutritional status and dietary intakes of this population is necessary in order to improve their nutritional status and reduce risk to infection and mortality. In the present study, data on the nutritional status of healthy elderly and centenarians is provided. Subjects: Participants were free-living healthy volunteers (39 centenarians; 11 male and 28 female and 44 elderly in their 70s; 13 male and 31 female). Methods: Their nutritional status was assessed by anthropometric measurements, hematological and biochemical variables. Activities of daily living (ADL) of 11 items were scored depending upon their activities with a maximum score of 5.0. Dietary survey by food recording was done for 2 days and food models were used to obtain the best estimate of food intake. Energy and nutrient intakes were compared with Japanese recommended dietary allowances (RDAs). Results: The elderly had complete independence of physical activities, good sensory function and cognitive abilities. The physical activities of male centenarians were between the category of completely independent and independent but slow. In female centenarian participants, their physical activities were independent but slow or independent with difficulty. The functions of auditory acuity and eyesight of the centenarians were poor but their cognitive abilities were still good. The elderly subjects had short stature whereas their body weight and body mass index (BMI) were not low, especially among the women, compelling female elderly to reduce their food intake to control the weight. Energy intake of female centenarians was low. The ADL in the female centenarians was positively related to energy, suggesting that the low energy intake of the female centenarians was mainly due to their low ADL. Anthropometric, hematological and biochemical variables of the centenarians were lower or near the lower reference limit except serum lipids. All the hematological and biochemical variables were statistically lower (p < 0.05) in the centenarians than in the elderly particularly for females with some minor exceptions. Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that the nutritional status assessed by ADL and anthropometric, hematological and biochemical parameters was poor in the centenarian subjects but was maintained in the elderly subjects except height and that the diet was not the major factor of their problems in the nutritional status.