Dietary Characteristics of the Elderly Living Alone from Low Income Status in Bucheon City

This study was performed to investigate the dietary characteristics and related factors of the elderly female living alone. The subjects were 70 single living elderly female residing in Bucheon city and receiving benefits from the government based social welfare programs. Seventy nine percent of the subjects had self reported monthly income less than 200,000 (won) and forty one percent of the subjects were paying more than 100,000 (won) for food expense. The number of side dishes for a meal was two or three (35.71 ％) or one or two (31.40％)； fifty seven percent of the subjects ate reheated left-over for lunch and 70.0％ for dinner. The proportion of the single living elderly at high nutrition risk ($\geq$ 6 as evaluated with Nutrition Risk Index Score) was 77.1 ％. Cereals and their products contributed most to the macronutrients like energy, protein and carbohydrates and vitamin B. In contrast vegetables and their products contributed most to the fiber, minerals (Ca and Fe) and vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin B and vitamin C). The mean total score of depression was 8.59${\pm}$2.69 (full score: 12) meaning that the extent of depression was serious.