Objective: To assess the situations of dietary microelements intakes among elderly people in different areas of Zhejiang Province, and analyze the food sources of microelements.
Methods: Data were obtained from the 2010-2012 Chinese National Nutrition and Health Survey in Zhejiang Province. 832 elderly people( 434 male, 398 female, age was( 68. 02±6. 68) years) were from large cities, small-medium cities and rural counties. The 24-hour dietary recall method for 3 consecutive days was used to collect food intake information to analyze dietary intakes among elderly people of Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Se and their sources in different areas.
Results: The elderly people'intakes of Mn was 4. 86( 3. 44, 6. 45) mg/d, Cu was 1. 69( 1. 13, 2. 27) mg/d, and Se was36. 85( 21. 32, 54. 21) μg/d, those were generally low. The intake of Zn was 10. 15( 7. 94, 12. 62) mg/d in males, was low as well. Intakes of Mn, Cu, Se were significantly different in different areas, small-medium cities had highest intakes of Mn( 5. 87 mg/d)and Cu( 1. 88 mg/d), large cities had a highest intake of Se( 45. 47 μg/d). The food sources of microelements were slightly variant. Rural counties had less fungi and algae sources of Fe and Mn than large cities and small-medium cities. The Cu from vegetables were higher than dried legumes and the Se from poultry and poultry products were higher than eggs in rural counties. The Zn from fish, shellfish and mollusk were higher than dried legumes in large cities.
Conclusion: The insufficient status of microelements intakes among elderly people in Zhejiang Province was serious, and there were differences among elderly people from different areas in intakes and food sources of microelements.
Keywords: diet surveys; elderly people; food sources; microelements.