Association between combinations of nutritional status and quality of life and food purchasing motives among the elderly in South Korea

BACKGROUND: In the elderly, nutritional status and quality of life (QOL) could potentially affect food purchasing behaviors. We examined the association between combinations of nutritional status and QOL and food purchasing motives among the elderly. METHODS: A total of 143 community-dwelling elderly were recruited in Seoul, South Korea. Nutritional status and QOL were assessed and participants were divided into four groups according to those combinations. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to examine the odds of food purchasing motives according to combinations of nutritional status and QOL. RESULTS: As a result of comparing the scores (mean ± SD) of the overall important factors for food purchasing, health related factors such as Nutrition quality and Preventive of treatment effect were the highest score (4.4 ± 0.8), followed by Price (4.1 ± 0.9), Ease of purchase (3.8 ± 0.9), Ease of chewing (3.7 ± 0.9), and Taste (3.6 ± 0.9). Participants with a low nutritional status and low QOL had more eating-related problems (77.8%) including chewing difficulty (48.9%) and constipation (17.8%) than those with a high nutritional status and high QOL (P < 0.05). Participants who were in high nutritional status and low QOL were more likely to be motivated by Ease of chewing (OR: 6.72; 95% CI: 1.44–31.37; P < 0.05), while those who were in low nutritional status and high QOL were less motivated by Taste (OR: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.08–0.94; P < 0.05) compared to those who were in high nutritional status and high QOL. CONCLUSIONS: There were differences in food purchasing motives such as Ease of chewing or Taste according to combinations of nutritional status and QOL. These data are important in demonstrating differing motives for food choice across nutritional status and QOL, and also provide indications of which care service and food development may be needed in promoting health for the elderly in South Korea.