Physical and Clinical Status and Food Consumption Patterns of the Elderly in Ghana: Evidence from Kwahu South District.

ABSTRACT:

Caring for the elderly is a requirement for development. Ghana’s unpreparedness to meet the nutritional need of the steadily growing elderly population made this study delve into the food habits of the elderly. This study focused on the physiological status and food habits of the elderly in the Kwahu- South District of Ghana using the sequential explanatory mixed-method design. The study first exposes the reader to theoretical and empirical surveys pertinent to the topic from a global perspective focusing on Ghana. With the aid of a questionnaire and a focus group discussion guide, the researchers solicited data from 103 respondents, 97 for the quantitative and 6 for the qualitative phase, respectively, who were sampled using simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Data collected were analysed using frequency counts and percentages with version 20 of the SPSS for the quantitative aspect, whereas emerging themes were used for the qualitative data. Findings of this study established that difficulty in chewing a\nd swallowing, immobility, gastrointestinal challenges and diminished sensory abilities such as reduced taste and poor eyesight were identified as the physiological characteristics of the elderly. Food taste, texture, and smell are the major organoleptic factors influencing the food choice of the elderly in the study area. Again, psycho-socioeconomic factors like emotions elicited on seeing given foods, perceptions one develops seeing one eating particular foods, cost, and availability of foods emerged as broad determinants of adults’ food habits in this study. The study also found out that foods such as game, fish, egg, plantain, potatoes, fruits, and vegetables ranked high on the list of likes of the elderly over the study period. This study, therefore, recommends that dieticians formulate a standardised dietary plan that considers the physiological characteristics of the elderly to enjoy their meals.

KEYWORDS: Physical Characteristics, Food Habits, Kwahu South, Family System, Aged