Dietary and Physical Activity Modifications Intervention for Older People

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Diet and physical activity modification such as specialized gymnastic, Taichi, or yoga could reduce either blood glucose or HbA1C level in diabetes patients among older people. This study was a behaviorally based nutrition education intervention for older people in reducing their HbA1C and total cholesterol level in urban area in Indonesia. DESIGN: This was quasi experimental study with three-month behavioral intervention based on Social Cognitive Theory. SETTING: The study was held in Jagir Sub-district located in urban area of Surabaya. Preliminary study showed proportion of hypercholesterolemia and diabetes mellitus among older people in Jagir Sub-district was respectively 21.37% and 2.74%. PARTICIPANTS: 60 older people in Jagir Sub-district was divided into 5 groups consist of: control, physical activity education only, nutrition education only, combination of physical activity and nutrition education, and education material only group. INTERVENTIONS: The intervention was consisted of six sessions physical activity or nutrition education, or both of it performed by trained nutrition science students. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes of this study were HbA1C (%) and total cholesterol (mg/dL) levels. ANALYSIS: The normal distributed or transformed data was analyzed using mixed factorial ANOVA in order to test the difference between groups.