Healthy Aging at Family Mealtimes: Associations of Clean Cooking, Protein Intake, and Dining Together with Mental Health of Chinese Older Adults amid COVID-19 Pandemic

The present study aims to examine whether multiple dietary factors affect the mental health of older adults amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It proposes an integrative dietary framework that highlights environmental, nutritional, and social aspects of diet for healthy aging. Based on a sample of 7858 Chi...

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Veröffentlicht in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2023-01, Vol.20 (3), p.1672
Hauptverfasser: Zhou, Shuai, Ding, Xiangying, Leung, Janet Tsin Yee
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The present study aims to examine whether multiple dietary factors affect the mental health of older adults amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It proposes an integrative dietary framework that highlights environmental, nutritional, and social aspects of diet for healthy aging. Based on a sample of 7858 Chinese older adults, the associations between diet and depressive symptoms, along with the rural-urban divide, were examined using zero-inflated negative binomial regression. Overall, protein intake (incidence-rate ratio [IRR] = 0.89, < 0.001), frequency of family dining together (IRR = 0.98, < 0.001), and using tap water for cooking (IRR = 0.92, < 0.01) were associated with lower incidence rates of depressive symptoms among older adults. Among rural older adults, frequency of family dining together (IRR = 0.97, < 0.001) and tap water use (IRR = 0.89, < 0.001) were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. However, urban residents who had a higher frequency of family dining together (IRR = 0.98, < 0.05) and protein intake (IRR = 0.81, < 0.001) exhibited fewer depressive symptoms. The findings revealed multifaceted dietary pathways towards healthy aging, which call for policies and interventions that improve diet quality for community-dwelling older adults.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph20031672