Abstract
Abstract
Background
Aging is associated with physiological, biological, socioeconomic and psychological changes that may increase vulnerability to poor dietary intake, reduced muscle strength and elevated blood pressure. In Ghana, evidence on dietary intake in relation to functional and cardiometabolic health among community-dwelling older adults remains limited. This cross-sectional study assessed dietary intake, handgrip strength (HGS) and elevated blood pressure (BP), and examined associations between diet quality indicators and these health outcomes among older adults in five peri-urban communities in the La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipality, Ghana.
Methods
Data were collected from 200 community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and above. Dietary intake was assessed using a multiple-pass 24-hour dietary recall, while physical activity, HGS and BP were measured using standardized procedures. Categorical variables were summarized as frequencies and percentages. Non-normally distributed dietary variables were compared between health outcome groups using the Mann-Whitney U test. Adjusted binary logistic regression was used to examine associations between diet quality indicators and HGS or elevated BP.
Results
The mean age of participants was 69.8 ± 7.3 years. More than half did not meet the dietary reference intake for protein, fat, fiber, magnesium, potassium and vitamin E, and no participant met the dietary reference intake for calcium. The prevalence of inadequate minimum dietary diversity (MDD) and inadequate mean adequacy ratio (MAR) exceeded 50%. Energy, protein, carbohydrate and selenium intake differed significantly by HGS status (p
Conclusion
Dietary inadequacy was common among older adults in this peri-urban Ghanaian setting. Better diet quality indicators were associated with normal HGS and lower odds of elevated BP. These findings support the need for nutrition-focused strategies and further longitudinal or intervention studies to clarify the role of dietary intake in functional and cardiometabolic health among older adults.