Nutrition Education Among Community-Dwelling Polish Seniors—A Pilot Study of Diet Quality, Health Status, and Public Health Interventions.

Background: Population aging presents major public health challenges. Nutrition education has emerged as a key intervention to improve diet quality and reduce the risk of chronic diseases among older adults. Methods: This pilot cross-sectional study assessed the effects of a brief nutrition educatio...

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Published in:Nutrients Vol. 17; no. 13; pp. 2103 - 2121
Main Authors: Szreiter, Anna, Lachowicz-Wiśniewska, Sabina
Format: research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: MDPI Jul2025
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jul2025
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      pub: MDPI
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        atl: Nutrition Education Among Community-Dwelling Polish Seniors—A Pilot Study of Diet Quality, Health Status, and Public Health Interventions.
      aug:
        au:
          Szreiter, Anna
          Lachowicz-Wiśniewska, Sabina
        affil: Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, University of Kalisz, W. Bogusławskiego Square 2, 62-800 Kalisz, Poland
      sug:
        subj:
          Nutrition Education Methods
          Community Living Psychosocial Factors
          Diet Evaluation
          Health Status Evaluation
          Food Quality Evaluation
          Chronic Disease Prevention and Control
          Public Health Evaluation
          Health Behavior
          Life Style
          Attitude to Health Evaluation
          Human
          Pilot Studies
          Poland
          Cross Sectional Studies
          Nonexperimental Studies
          Male
          Female
          Middle Age
          Aged
          Aged, 80 and Over
          Dietary Patterns
          Questionnaires
          Self Report
          Hypercholesterolemia
          Hypertension
          Body Mass Index
          Chronic Disease Epidemiology
          Prevalence
          Descriptive Statistics
          Middle Aged: 45-64 years
          Aged: 65+ years
          Aged, 80 & over
          Male
          Female
      ab: Background: Population aging presents major public health challenges. Nutrition education has emerged as a key intervention to improve diet quality and reduce the risk of chronic diseases among older adults. Methods: This pilot cross-sectional study assessed the effects of a brief nutrition education session on dietary patterns, lifestyle behaviors, and health perceptions among 151 community-dwelling Polish seniors aged 60 and over. Data were collected using the KomPAN® questionnaire, the Pro-Healthy Diet Index (pHDI-10), the Non-Healthy Diet Index (nHDI-14), and self-reported health indicators. Results: The findings revealed suboptimal dietary patterns, including low consumption of whole grains, legumes, and fish. A high prevalence of chronic diseases was observed, particularly hypercholesterolemia (67.7%) and hypertension (53.1%). A weak but significant correlation was found between BMI and the number of diagnosed conditions (r = 0.3, p = 0.003). Despite limited prior nutritional knowledge, participants perceived the educational session as beneficial, and many expressed an intention to share the acquired information with peers, indicating a potential "domino effect". Conclusions: Although the sample size limits generalizability, the results support the effectiveness of brief, tailored nutrition education as a scalable, cost-effective public health strategy. Such interventions may promote healthy aging, reduce diet-related disease burden, and enhance peer-driven knowledge dissemination among older adults.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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