2019 Volume 1 Issue 3 Pages 122-127
Objective: There are very few reports on the eating situation and blood vitamin levels in elderly residents of long-term care facilities and the current status is unclear. So, we investigated eating conditions at such a facility and examined the effect of intake of nutritional supplements.
Methods: Eighteen elderly residents who agreed to participate. In addition to meals, they were provided with nutritional supplements (1 pack per day) for 28 days and then levels of various blood vitamins were compared between before and after the intervention.
Results: Although the rate of consuming a full portion was over 90% and the vitamin content of meals was adequate, levels were below the reference values for Vitamin B6 in 6 participants (33.3%) and for Vitamin D in all participants (100%). After the intervention, levels of both vitamins were significantly increased, and the number of participants with levels of Vitamin B6 and Vitamin D below the reference values had decreased to 1 (5.6%) and 5 (27.8%), respectively.
Conclusion: Increasing the Vitamin B6 and Vitamin D content in meals appears to be beneficial for elderly residents of long-term care facilities and providing nutritional supplements is a useful means to do this.
