Nutrition risk prevalence and associated health and social risk factors in Māori and non-Māori: Results from the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement Study.

Objective: To determine the nutrition risk prevalence and associated health and social risk factors amongst community-living Māori and non-Māori older adults in New Zealand.

Methods: As part of the 2014 Health, Work and Retirement postal survey, 2914 community-living older adults (749 Māori) aged 49-87 years completed the Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition (SCREEN II-AB) to determine nutrition risk status and sociodemographic and health measures.

Results: Half (50.2%) of Māori and 32.7% of non-Māori were at nutrition risk. Independent risk factors were as follows: for Māori, being unpartnered and rating general health as fair, and for non-Māori, being unpartnered and rating general health as fair or poor, lower life satisfaction, higher number of health conditions and emotional loneliness.

Conclusions: Findings highlight the need for culturally appropriate intervention strategies, which provide opportunity for older adults to eat with others, especially for those who are unpartnered and lonely.