Nutritional Status of Food Insecure Older Adults

Approximately 9.8 million seniors across America were at risk of going hungry in 2015. The percentage of seniors who faced the threat of hunger was equivalent to the percentage of seniors compared with the whole population of the United States. The prevalence rate of hypertension, which contributes to heart attacks and strokes, is over 50%, and the prevalence rate of diabetes is over 25% in seniors. Both heart disease and diabetes are among the top 10 leading causes of death in America with heart disease being number one. Appropriate dieting is recommended as a way to prevent and treat both of these diseases. The goal of this study is to determine the effectiveness of support offered by food banks to provide adequate nutrition to food insecure older adults. A total of 300 seniors will be assessed prior to their first use of food bank support and three months after initiation using the Mini Nutritional Assessment. The data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics.