Nutritional intake of nursing home residents.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the nutritional intake of nursing home residents. This study was a secondary analysis of Gaspar's (1987) data which focused on water adequacy of nursing home residents. Food and fluid ingested by nursing home residents was observed and recorded for 24 hours. Variables included demographics, functional ability and conditions affecting ingestion. Thirty-two subjects with a mean age of 82 years were studied. All levels of functional ability were represented. Impaired speech was found to be significantly associated with an increased intake of 11 of 17 (65%) of the selected nutrients. Residents that received assistance with eating and had difficulty swallowing had higher intakes of kilocalories, Vitamin C and thiamin. Subjects with lower functional ability had a significantly increased intake of kilocalories, vitamin C and calcium.