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 |
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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. |
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ISSN: | 1660-4601 1661-7827 1660-4601 |
DOI: | 10.3390/ijerph20031672 |