Abstract: Objective To investigate the incidence of malnutrition and hidden hunger of the community elderly, and to investigate the effect of oral nutritional supplement(ONS). Methods A total of 248 elderly people were evaluated by Mini Nutritional Assessment, hidden hunger scale, physical measurement and body composition test. Forty elderly people with hidden hunger and malnutrition were selected and randomly divided into the intervention group and the control group, with 20 cases in each group. The control group received nutrition knowledge education. The intervention group received ONS on the basis of the control group for 12 weeks. The changes of nutritional intake, physical indexes and body composition before and after the intervention were compared between the two groups. Results The incidence rate of malnutrition and hidden hunger in the elderly was 31.5%(78/248). The average intake of fat, protein, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and the proportion of high-quality protein in the intervention group were higher than those in the control group(P<0.05). The levels of body weight, body mass index, body fat, plasma total protein and albumin in the intervention group were higher than those before the intervention (P<0.05). Conclusions The incidence rate of malnutrition and hidden hunger is 31.5% in the community elderly. ONS is beneficial to improve the nutritional status, skeletal muscle quality and plasma protein level in the elderly.

Key words: hidden hunger, sarcopenia, malnutrition, oral nutritional supplement, aged