Socio-demographic, behavioral and functional characteristics of groups of community and institutionalized elderly Quechua Indians of Peru, and their association with nutritional status.

Full Abstract

Socio-demographic, behavioral, functional and anthropometric data for groups of elderly Quechua Indians of Peru were used to investigate the effects of gender and lifestyle patterns on nutritional status. Two community-dwelling samples were selected for study, representative of divergent lifestyles in terms of their combination of socio-economic, demographic and cultural contexts, plus an ad-hoc sample of institutionalized individuals with controlled food intake and reduced physical activity. Results suggest that differences in socio-demographic, behavioral and functional characteristics exist between the sexes and across settings (low- vs. highland) and lifestyles (institutionalized vs. community-dwelling; semi-urban vs. rural). These factors are likely to be related to diverging dietary and physical activity patterns, and have considerable effects on the nutritional status of the respondents.

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Author information

Author/s: Fortunato, Laura (L); Drusini, Andrea G (AG);

Affiliation: Department of Biology, Physical Anthropology Unit, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. l.fortunato(-atsign-)ucl.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of cross-cultural gerontology (J Cross Cult Gerontol), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2005-Jun; vol 20 (issue 2) : pp 141-57

Dates: Created 2006/08/18; Completed 2006/09/12; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 16917749, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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