ABSTRACT

 As people get older, more and more health complications that comes with old age as a result of lifelong lifestyle has resulted in poor feeding patterns which in turn leads to poor anthropometric status. This study so far assessed feeding patterns and anthropometric status ofolder persons in Ideato North L.G.A ofImo State. The study employed the use of cross sectional study design. The population is made up ofmale and female older persons in Ideato North L.G.A of Imo State. The study used a multi-stage sampling technique to select 377 older persons for the study. Data was obtained using a structured questionnaire, while anthropometric data were obtained by taking the measurements ofthe older persons such as weight. Height, Hip circumference and Waist circumference. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The result on personal data showed that more than half(52.5%) ofthe older persons were males, most (73.2%) were married, more than half(58.6%) lived in rural areas, 40.6% of the older persons come from households with over 10 persons, 32.9% were drinking from rain water, 38.7% of the older persons attended secondary education while 61 % were earning between N30,000 to N50,000. Result on feeding pattern showed that more than half(53.3%) ofthe older persons ate at least 3 times daily, 81.3% did not skip meals, 44.3% ate food when hungry and 40.8% consumed fruits twice daily, 66.58% ofthe older persons did not snack, 47.2% lost appetite due to stress. The result on anthropometric status showed that 51.3% ofthe males were underweight, as against 72.6% for the females while generally, 62.4% of the older persons were underweight. Moreso, more females (19.9%) were at moderate risk ofobesity as against males (18.0%). The result further revealed that educational status and income were significantly associated with anthropometric status (P=0.048) and that feeding pattern of the older persons had a significant association with their anthropometric status (P=0.009).