| Abstrakt: |
An eight-week nutrition education program on sodium status and health was investigated in 41 elderly subjects; changes in knowledge and status of selected minerals were assessed. An experimental design was used with four groups: hypertensive treatment (HT), hypertensive control (HC), normotensive treatment (NT) and normotensive control (NC). The program was effective in increasing knowledge in the HT and NT with a significant gain in pre to posttest scores, (p l 0.01 and p 5 0.05, respectively). A post-posttest, given six weeks after intervention, showed that HT retained more knowledge than NT, (15% and 6%, respectively). Dietary calcium increased in HT and NT and potassium decreased in HT (p < 0.05) but not in NT. Urinary sodium and dietary sodium decreased in the HT, levels of sodium and potassium increased slightly in the NT group. The education program was more effective in the HT group than the NT possibly indicating that elderly with a medical need for dietary modification are more positively affected by an education program than elderly without a medical need. |
