Nutritional Status and Dietary Practices of Elderly Persons in Rural Communities of Taraba State, North East Nigeria

The nutritional health of elderly persons is an often-neglected dimension of public health programming in Nigeria, particularly in rural North East communities where poverty, limited healthcare access, and changing family structures constrain dietary adequacy. This study assesses the nutritional status and dietary practices of persons aged 60 and above in rural Taraba State. A descriptive cross-sectional design is applied to a sample of 240 elderly individuals recruited through community enumeration and purposive sampling from six rural communities across three local government areas. Mini Nutritional Assessment tools are employed alongside 24-hour dietary recall interviews and anthropometric measurements to evaluate nutritional status, meal frequency, food diversity, and micronutrient intake. Data are analysed using SPSS, with descriptive statistics and correlations employed. Recent literature from the Helpage Nigeria and Federal Ministry of Health geriatric health assessments suggests that malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency affect over 40 percent of rural elderly Nigerians, compounded by dental problems, low income, and social isolation. The Ecological Systems Theory informs the contextual analysis of dietary behaviour in this population. Findings will support Taraba State's social welfare and healthcare departments in designing elder-specific nutrition programmes and community feeding support schemes. Keywords: nutritional status, dietary practices, elderly persons, Taraba State, North East Nigeria.