Background. Nutrition plays an important role in the elderly stage of life. A proper proportion of the individual nutritional ingredients in a diet may positively impact the ageing body. This positive influence consists in slowing down the undesired and unfavourable physiological alterations leading inevitably to the general weakness of the body. Objective. The aim of the paper was to perform a qualitative analysis with the Starzyńska scoring system for diets, the daily food rations (DFR), among students of the University of the Third Age at the Koszalin University of Technology (Poland). Material and methods. The studied materials consisted of the 7-day current records made by 79 students (16 males and 63 females) of the University of the Third Age at the Koszalin University of Technology and the measurements of body weight, height and waistline. The records were qualitatively evaluated with Starzyńska’s test. Results. It was found that approximately half of the students were overweight or obese. The majority consumed the recommended number of meals. About 44% of the students consumed animal protein with all meals. Milk and cheese were ingested daily with at least two meals by approximately 11% of the students. Fruit and vegetables are eaten on a daily basis by about 60% of the students. Almost 40% ate wholegrain bread, groats, and dried legumes. The statistical analysis of the means for the points of individual indicators did not reveal any statistically significant difference between women and men (p>0.05). Conclusions. Approximately ¾ of the evaluated diets were inaccurately formulated and required radical modification. The low frequency of animal protein, milk and cheese, wholegrain bread, groats and dried legume consumption may result in deficiencies in certain nutrients. Nutritional education is recommended, focusing on the correct way to formulate meals. The recorded level of overweight and obesity in the students indicates a need for a quantitative assessment of consumption considering, among others, the energy input in their diets.
The aim of our paper was to identify the effect of physical activities on the reduction of stress among the elderly who regularly participated in a physical activity program and point out the positive effects of these exercises. The research sample consisted of a total of 202 elderly people from 64 to 78 years of age. 102 of them regularly exercised within the framework of the Motion studio program for the elderly organised by the University of the Third Age at Brno University of Technology. Other 100 seniors did not study and none of them exercised regularly. The level of stress was measured with the Stress Test (Selye, 1993, Křivohlavý, 2001).We looked for differences in the level of stress among seniors who exercise on a regular basis and those who do not exercise. We compared age, retirement time and all physiological stress-related difficulties. We used the Pearson correlation coefficient and the factual evaluation for statistical evaluation of the obtained data. The obtained results, indicate that the seniors who came regularly to the Motion studio showed less stress than the rest of the tested elders. They showed lower level in the zone of moderate stress, on average 4.5 points (men exhibited slightly higher stress level – 5 points – than women – 4 points) compared to the average of 8.1 points among seniors without sports and regular exercise (again, men showed higher levels of stress – 8.3 points – than women – 7.9 points). We found that the time spent in retirement does not statistically significantly affect the level of stress among the elderly (0.05 % significance level). The results indicated that the main stressors in old age are primarily physiological factors, which determine the level of life quality and often cause protracted diseases, particularly those related to musculoskeletal system. The time spent in retirement does not statistically significantly affect the level of stress of the elderly. Seniors without sports and regular exercise who reported higher levels of stress complained more about their cardiovascular condition, loss of appetite and neurological problems. The research has shown that seniors who are regularly engaged in physical activities are less stressed than seniors without sports and regular exercise.
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