Eating Habits and Lifestyle Profile of an Italian Aging Cohort

NCT04401930 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 13052020CUP E47F17000020009
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 600
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Aging is characterized by low-grade inflammatory state, supported by impairment oxidative balance and endocrine changes, leading to changes in: body composition, such as decrease in lean body mass and increase in adipose tissue; resting metabolic rate; immune function; cognitive impairment. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics all subjects over the age of 60 should be able to access to adequate nutrition and appropriate nutritional services. In order to ensure healthy aging and to reduce effects of specific diseases, recommendations are needed for illness and disability in this population, as well as adequate physical activity and specific support programs, culturally accepted. The aim of this study is to evaluate eating habits in term of food consumption, health state and lifestyle in a sample of free-living elderly over the age of 65, living in Milan and surroundings. In particular, profiling of the elderly population is performed using a survey in which information are collected on methods, contexts, time and ability to buy, prepare, consume and dispose of and recycle food. Eating habits and knowledge about food are detected through the analysis of food consumption frequencies, and lifestyle by assessing the level of physical activity, quality of sleep, smoking habit. Weight status and health status are evaluated through anthropometric measurements, body composition (bioelectrical impedance) and strength test. Other information relating to social participation and other socio-demographic variables (age, gender, family composition, socio-economic status) are collected to have a completed profiling of target population. Achieved results will help us to identify factors on which acting to ensure healthy aging and counteract inflammaging, the chronic low-grade systemic inflammation characteristic in the aging process. Moreover, the study allows increasing the knowledge related to the needs and requirements of the target population to determine a good food policy and to increase the elderly empowerment.

Conditions

Aging; Healthy Aging; Life Style; Eating Habit; Nutritional Deficiency; Sarcopenia

Keywords

elderly; life style; eating habits; health status; body composition; sarcopenia; nutritional deficiency; aged

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (11)

• Assessment of the socio-demographic characteristics

  Age, Educational level, family status, food safety, food security.

  1 day

• Assessment of eating habits

  Eating habits: evaluated with the Food Habit (FHQ) section of questionnaire by Turconi et al. (2003), to investigate the eating habits related to daily number of meals, consumption of the main food groups (fruit, vegetables, etc) and soft drinks or alcoholic beverages. Each question has the following response: always, often, sometimes, never. The score assigned to each response ranged from 0 to 3, with the maximum score assigned to the healthiest one and the minimum score to the least healthy one according to the Italian National Dietary Guidelines (2018).

  1 day

• Assessment of smoking habits

  Smoking habits: evaluated with specific semi-quantitative questions such as: "Are you smoker, no-smoker or former smoker?"; "How long have you been smoking?", "How old were you when you started smoking?" and "How many cigarettes do you smoke daily?" in current smokers; "How many years have passed since the last cigarette?" and "How many cigarettes per day did you use to smoke?" in former smokers. The minimum score was assigned to the healthiest habit.

  1 day

• Assessment of Physical activity level

  Physical activity level evaluated with the International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ) - Short Form. The specific activity levels assessed are walking, moderate-intensity activities and vigorous-intensity activities. The scores are expressed in Metabolic Equivalent of task -minutes/week.The total score includes the sum of the duration (in minutes) and the frequency (days) of the three dimensions analyzed (walking, activity of moderate intensity and vigorous intensity). Higher number of MET per week relate with higher level of physical activity.

  1 day

• Assessment of Sleep Quality

  Sleep Quality: evaluated with the Italian version of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), validated by Curcio et al (2011). It's a 19-item questionnaire investigating seven domains of sleep (sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medications, and daytime dysfunction). A global score, calculated from the score of each domains, higher than 5 is considered as an indicator of bad sleep quality.

  1 day

• Nutritional assessment: weight status

  Measurement of: body weight in kilograms; height in centimeters, evaluated with prediction formula height-knee by Donini et al (2000); weight and height will be combined to report BMI in kg/m\^2 to evaluate the weight status (underweight, normal, overweight, obesity);

  1 day

• Nutritional assessment: fat distribution

  Measurement of: waist circumference in centimeters; hip circumference in centimeters; waist and hip will be combined to report waist-hip ratio (WHR) and waist and height will be combined to report waist-height ratio (WHtR), both as indicators of fat distribution and metabolic diseases risk.

  1 day

• Nutritional assessment: other antropometric parameters

  Measurement of calf circumference in centimeters, as inidcator of muscle mass. Measurement of neck circumference in centimeters, as indicator of fat distribution and metabolic diseases risk.

  1 day

• Nutritional assessment: arm circumference and triceps skinfold thickness

  Mesurement of: arm circumference in centimeters, as inidcator of muscle mass; triceps skinfold thickness in millimeters, as indicator of fatty mass; upper arm circumference and triceps fold will be combined to report the upper arm area in millimeters\^2, upper arm muscle area in millimeters\^2, upper arm fat area in millimeters\^2.

  1 day

• Nutritional assessment: muscle strenght

  Measurement of hand-grip in kilograms, to assess muscle strength

  1 day

• Nutritional assessment: body composition

  Assessment of body composition with bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIVA).

  1 day

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Adherence to Italian National Dietary Guidelines

  1 day

• Identify possible nutritional deficiencies

  1 day

• Lifestyle and nutritional status

  1 day

Study Arms (1)

Free-living elderly

Free-living elderly over the age of 65 living in Metropolitan Area of Milan, in apparent good health conditions. Male and Female

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Free-living over 65 subjects living in Milan and surroundings, in apparent good health conditions and self sufficient, able to express their consent to participate in the study.

You may qualify if:

• Age: over 65
• free-living
• autonomous, self sufficient
• acceptance and sign of informed consent

You may not qualify if:

• Age: under 65
• living in: nursing home, Extended Care
• hospitalized
• non autonomous, non self sufficient
• without acceptance and sign of informed consent

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pavia: lead
• University of Milano Bicocca: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Pavia

Pavia, Lombardy, 27100, Italy

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Feeding Behavior; Malnutrition; Sarcopenia

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior, Animal; Behavior; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Muscular Atrophy; Neuromuscular Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Atrophy; Pathological Conditions, Anatomical; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Hellas Cena

  University of Pavia

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Tenured researcher

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 15, 2020
• First Posted: May 26, 2020
• Study Start: November 1, 2017
• Primary Completion: March 31, 2021
• Study Completion: March 31, 2021
• Last Updated: June 1, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-05

Locations

IT (1)