Factors Related to The Nutritional Status of the Elderly in the Working Area of Sapta Taruna Community Health Center, Pekanbaru City

The nutritional status of the elderly is the condition of the body which is a reflection of what we eat every day. The prevalence of malnutrition among the elderly in the world in 2019 reached 14.9%, in Indonesia in 2020 the elderly had a malnutrition status of 21.8%. Riau Province, the malnutrition status of the elderly in 2020 was 20.4%, while at the Sapta Taruna Community Health Center the malnutrition status of the elderly in 2022 was 19.1%. This research aims to determine the relationship between posyandu utilization, family support, knowledge, attitudes and eating patterns on the nutritional status of the elderly in the Sapta Taruna Community Health Center Working Area, Pekanbaru City in 2023. This type of research is quantitative with a cross sectional design. The research time is June-August 2023. The research population is all elderly people in the Sapta Taruna Health Center Work Area, Pekanbaru City with a total of 4,264 elderly people and a sample of 150 elderly people. The sampling technique is Simple Random Sampling. Data analysis was carried out univariately and bivariately with the chi-square test (α=0.05). The research results showed a significant relationship between posyandu utilization (ρ value = 0.034), family support (ρ value = 0.044), knowledge (ρ value = 0.028), attitude (ρ value = 0.040), and eating patterns (ρ value = 0.029) with the nutritional status of the elderly. Based on the research results, it can be concluded from the results of measuring body weight and height that many elderly people experience under/over nutritional status. It is recommended that the elderly be more active in participating in posyandu activities for the elderly and it is best that after the elderly know that their nutritional status is not normal, such as undernutrition and overnutrition, then the elderly can improve their nutritional status and arrange a good diet so that their nutritional status becomes normal.